Sherwin Williams Co. v. Grasso (In re Grasso)

497 B.R. 434
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 3, 2013
DocketBankruptcy No. 12-11063-MDC; Adversary No. 12-00394-MDC
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 497 B.R. 434 (Sherwin Williams Co. v. Grasso (In re Grasso)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sherwin Williams Co. v. Grasso (In re Grasso), 497 B.R. 434 (Pa. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DENYING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DETERMINING CERTAIN FACTS AS ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 56(g)

MAGDELINE D. COLEMAN, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before this Court is an adversary proceeding wherein the Sherwin Williams Company (the “Movant”) seeks to have its claim against Joseph Grasso (the “Debt- or”) declared nondischargeable pursuant to §§ 523(a)(2)(A), 523(a)(4)1 or 523(a)(6). The Movant alleges that its claim consists of potential damages in an amount that may exceed $3.6 million that arise from its investment in a restaurant development project known as the Union Trust Steakhouse that was most recently operated by Union Trust Philadelphia, LLC (“Union Trust”).2 The Movant alleges two sources of potential damages. First, the Movant claims that the Debtor is liable as a guarantor of WSC 717 Tenant, L.P. (‘WSC LP”) for three capital contributions made by the Movant to WSC LP: (1) a contribution of $1,446,043.00 made on December 22, 2008; (2) a contribution of $503,537.62 made on January 28, 2009; and (3) a con[437]*437tribution of $511,268.00 made on December 7, 2009 (collectively, the “Capital Contributions”). Second, the Movant claims that the Debtor is liable as a guarantor of WSC LP for the potential loss of certain tax credits that accrued to the Movant as a result of its financing of the rehabilitation of real property located at 717 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the “Property”).

On March 11, 2013, the Movant filed a Motion for Default Judgment or, in the alternative, for Partial Summary Judgment [Docket No. 40] (the “Motion”). On April 18, 2013, the Debtor responded to the Motion by filing his Answer in Opposition [Docket No. 63] (the “Response”). On May 8, 2013, this Court held a hearing to address the Motion (the “Hearing”). After considering the arguments of both parties, this Court took the matter under advisement. Having fully considered the parties’ pleadings and various arguments made before this Court at the Hearing, this Court is now prepared to issue its decision. For the reasons stated herein, this Court finds that the Movant failed to meet its initial burden and will deny the Motion with regard to each of its remaining two claims for relief. Because the parties did not dispute many of the facts underlying this proceeding, this Memorandum shall identify, as permitted by Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(g), all material facts that are not genuinely in dispute and shall treat such facts as established in the case for purposes of the trial presently scheduled to be held before this Court on July 8, 2013.3

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On May 11, 2012, the Movant initiated this Adversary Proceeding by filing a Complaint [Docket No. 1] (the “Complaint”). In the Complaint, the Movant asserted one claim of relief which alleged that any debts owed by the Debtor are nondischargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(4) as a result of fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity. The Complaint asserted no other claims for relief. On June 13, 2012, the Debtor filed an Answer to the Complaint. This proceeding thereafter proceeded along a normal course and largely outside the supervision of this Court.

On January 29, 2013, the Movant filed its Amended Complaint [Docket No. 32] (the “Amended Complaint”). In the Mov-ant’s Amended Complaint, the Movant supplemented its original Complaint by asserting two additional claims for relief. First, the Movant alleges that its claim against the Debtor is nondischargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(2) as the result of the Debtor false representations. Second, the Movant reasserts its original allegation that its claim is nondischargeable pursuant to § 523(a)(4) as the result of the Debtor’s fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity. Finally, in the third claim of relief, the Movant alleges that its claim is the result of the Debtor’s willful and malicious intent to injure the Movant and therefore exempt from discharge pursuant to § 523(a)(6). Significantly, the Amended Complaint makes no allegation that WSC’s claim resulted from embezzlement or larceny.

After the Debtor failed to file a timely response to the Amended Complaint, the Movant filed the instant Motion in which it sought a default judgment against the Debtor. The Debtor then filed its Answer dated March 14, 2013 [Docket No. 42] (the “Answer”). As a result, the Movant aban[438]*438doned its request for default judgment and subsequently filed on April 26, 2013, a revised motion wherein the Movant renewed its request for summary judgment on substantially identical grounds.

In the Motion, the Movant argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on each of the three claims of relief asserted by the Amended Complaint. With regard to its first claim of relief, the Movant argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on its § 523(a)(2)(A) claim because uncontested facts establish that certain false representations alleged to have been made by the Debtor induced the Movant to make the Capital Contributions and that prevented the Movant from taking action to prevent the recapture of certain tax credits that accrued to the Movant as result its financing of the renovation of the Property. With regard to its second claim of relief, the Movant argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on its § 523(a)(4) claim because uncontested facts establish that the Debtor caused the embezzlement of a certain leasehold interest from Chestnut Restaurant Ventures, LLC (“CRV”) to Union Trust. In the Amended Complaint, the Movant premised its second claim of relief on a theory of fraud or defalcation in the performance of the Debtor’s alleged fiduciary duties. Finally, with regard to its third claim of relief, the Movant argues that it is entitled to summary judgment on its § 523(a)(6) claim because certain uncontested facts establish that the Debtor maliciously intended to injure the Movant by (1) allowing the Property to be foreclosed upon by TD Bank and, in the alternative, (2) making certain false representations that induced the Movant to make the Capital Contributions.

In his Response, the Debtor does little more than regurgitate the standard boilerplate setting forth the various inferences and burdens associated with a court’s consideration of a motion for summary judgment and the elements of each of the causes of action upon which the Movant seeks to have its claim determined to be exempt from discharge. Significantly, the Debtor does not challenge the accuracy of the Movant’s various factual allegations including whether the statements identified by the Movant were false when made. Rather, the Debtor in his Response and at the Hearing made three arguments for denial of the Motion as a matter of law. First, the Debtor argued that the Movant does not possess a claim against the Debt- or and therefore lacks standing to bring a dischargeability action. Second, the Debt- or argued with regard to the Movant’s § 523(a)(2)(A) claim for relief that the representations were not made by the Debtor and therefore cannot be attributed to him. Third and also specific to the whether the Movant met its § 523(a)(2)(A) burden, the Debtor argued that the Movant did not establish that the Debtor gained a direct benefit as a result of the alleged conduct.4 From this Court’s review of the record, this Court cannot identify any arguments [439]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Untitled Case
E.D. Pennsylvania, 2026
Solar Innovations, Inc. v. Plevyak
M.D. Pennsylvania, 2023
Bloom v. Glencove Holdings
Tenth Circuit, 2022
Sosalski, Jr. v. Melasecca, Jr.
E.D. Pennsylvania, 2019
Harris v. Kamps (In re Kamps)
575 B.R. 62 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2017)
Fulton, N.A. v. Robbins (In re Robbins)
562 B.R. 83 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2016)
TotalFacility, Inc. v. Brown (In re Brown)
557 B.R. 363 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2016)
Karaeff v. Hart (In re Hart)
533 B.R. 765 (N.D. California, 2015)
Link v. Mauz (In re Mauz)
532 B.R. 589 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 2015)
Stambaugh v. Stambaugh (In re Stambaugh)
533 B.R. 449 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 2015)
General Retirement System v. Dixon (In re Dixon)
525 B.R. 827 (N.D. Georgia, 2015)
Larson v. Bayer (In re Bayer)
521 B.R. 491 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2014)
Skinner v. Skinner (In re Skinner)
519 B.R. 613 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2014)
Huntington National Bank v. Aman (In re Aman)
498 B.R. 592 (N.D. West Virginia, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
497 B.R. 434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sherwin-williams-co-v-grasso-in-re-grasso-paeb-2013.