Senger Bros. Nursery, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co.

184 F.R.D. 674, 43 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1295, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1586, 1999 WL 80337
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 5, 1999
DocketNo. 97-1707-Civ-T-17A
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 184 F.R.D. 674 (Senger Bros. Nursery, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Senger Bros. Nursery, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., 184 F.R.D. 674, 43 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1295, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1586, 1999 WL 80337 (M.D. Fla. 1999).

Opinion

ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND AND SUPPLEMENT COMPLAINT, RETAIL DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, and PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE

KOVACHEVICH, Chief Judge.

This cause is before the Court on the following Motions and Responses:

Dkt. 65 Motion for Leave to Amend and Supplement Complaint
Dkt. 88 Opposition
Dkt. 39 Motion for Summary Judgment
Dkt. 48 Response
Dkt. 66 Motion for Summary Judgment
Dkt. 92 Motion for Summary Judgment
Dkt. 93 Request for Judicial Notice

BACKGROUND

The original cause of action was filed on July 9, 1997, in a Complaint based on claims of strict liability, negligence, fraud, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and breach of contract (Dkt. 2). On August 21, 1997, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Stay Proceedings (Dkt. 15). Defendant Dupont and Retail Defendants (Helena and Asgrow) responded to Plaintiffs Motion to Stay Proceedings on September 4,1997 (Dkt. 20). On September 8, 1997, the Court entered an Order requiring Plaintiff to respond, within ten (10) days, to allegations made in Defendant and Retail Defendants’ Response to Plaintiffs Motion to Stay Proceedings (Dkts. 15, 21). Plaintiff replied on September 18, 1997, as required by the Court’s Order (Dkts. 21, 23).

On November 24, 1997, Retail Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 39). Retail Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment asserts that:

1. Plaintiffs claims against Retail Defendants are barred by the applicable statutes of limitation. (Dkt. 39, Paragraph 1).
2. There are no material issues of fact precluding entry of summary judgment in favor of Retail Defendants. (Dkt. 39, Paragraph 2).
3. Retail Defendants are entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law on all claims asserted against them in the Plaintiffs Complaint. (Dkt. 39, Paragraph 3).

On December 11, 1997, Plaintiff filed an Agreed Motion for Enlargement of Time to Respond to Retail Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkts. 39, 46). The Agreed Motion for Enlargement of Time was granted on December 17, 1997 (Dkts. 46, 47). On December 17, 1997, Plaintiff filed a Memorandum in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 48).

The Court entered the first Case Management and Scheduling Order on December 31, 1997 (Dkt. 53). In this original Case Management and Scheduling Order a discovery cutoff date of January 30, 1998, was set (Dkt. 53). Trial was set to be scheduled, on twenty days notice, on or after August 17,1998 (Dkt. 53). On February 10, 1998, the Court entered an Amended Scheduling Order, that set a deadline for filing motions as March 9, 1998 (Dkt. 63).

On March 9, 1998, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Leave to Amend and Supplement Complaint (Dkt. 65). Attached to Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to Amend and Supplement Complaint, was an unexecuted copy of an assignment of claim from MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY (Dkt. 65). The executed copy of the assignment of claims from MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY, was later filed on March 13, 1998 (Dkt. 87). Plaintiffs Motion for Leave to Amend and Supplement Complaint (Dkt. 65), asserts that:

1. The action has been brought by SEN-GER BROTHERS NURSERY INC., a Michigan Corporation, authorized to do business in the State of Florida. When SENGER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC. was formed and became authorized to do business in the State of Florida, its sister company MARINE CITY NURSERY [677]*677COMPANY, a Michigan corporation, ceased doing business in the State of Florida. (Dkt. 65, Paragraph 2).
2. The invoices attached to the Complaint, representing a portion of the Ben-late sold by Retail Defendants, HELENA CHEMICAL COMPANY and ASGROW FLORIDA COMPANY, were directed to MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY. MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY is SENGER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC.’s sister company and the previous operator of the nursery tracts in Hardee County, Florida. (Dkt. 65, Paragraph 3).
3. MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY and SENGER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC. are both duly organized and existing corporations in the State of Michigan, however, SENGER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC. is the only corporate entity that has conducted business in the State of Florida since 1989. The corporations are virtually identical with respect to their shareholders, officers and directors. There is a common identity of these corporate entities making them virtually indistinguishable. (Dkt. 65, Paragraph 4).
4. Recently, MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY has formalized the assignment of its claims against the Defendants, E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS & COMPANY, HELENA CHEMICAL COMPANY, and ASGROW FLORIDA COMPANY, to SENGER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC. (Dkt. 65, Paragraph 5).
5. So as to avoid confusion with respect to the proper party plaintiff in this action and to acknowledge through pleading, be it amendment or supplementation, that the claims that are the subject of this litigation are properly brought by the Plaintiff, SENGER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC., wishes to amend its Complaint and reflect the execution and delivery of the assignment from MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY. (Dkt. 65, Paragraph 6).
6. There is no prejudice to the Defendants, E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS & COMPANY, HELENA CHEMICAL COMPANY, and ASGROW FLORIDA COMPANY, in that all Defendants have conducted extensive discovery both with respect to the books and records of SEN-GER BROTHERS NURSERY, INC. and MARINE CITY NURSERY COMPANY as well as the damages accruing to each entity. Based on the documents requested by the Defendants and provided in response to those requests, there is no surprise or absence of factual information that would be prejudicial to the Defendants. (Dkt. 65, Paragraph 7).

On March 9, 1998, the same day Plaintiff filed its Motion for Leave to Amend and Supplement Complaint, Defendant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 66). Retail Defendants entered a Joinder in Motion for Summary Judgment on March 9, 1998 (Dkt. 68)'. Defendant entered a Statement of Undisputed Facts, in support of its Motion for Summary Judgment, on March 9, 1998, that was corrected by filings made on March 10,1998 and March 11,1998 (Dkts. 66, 69, 85, 86).

Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment asserts that:

1. Plaintiffs claims against Dupont are each separately barred by the applicable statutes of limitation. (Dkt. 66, Paragraph 1).
2. Plaintiff lacks standing to assert these claims. (Dkt. 66, Paragraph 2).
3. Plaintiff impermissibly split its causes of action when it first brought an action against Dupont in 1992 on a purported settlement of these claims. (Dkt. 66, Paragraph 3).
4. Plaintiffs claims are barred by res judicata and judicial estoppel. (Dkt. 66, Paragraph 4).
5. There is no legal or factual basis to support Plaintiffs fraud claims. (Dkt. 66, Paragraph 5).

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Bluebook (online)
184 F.R.D. 674, 43 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1295, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1586, 1999 WL 80337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/senger-bros-nursery-inc-v-ei-dupont-de-nemours-co-flmd-1999.