Solomonson v. United States

41 F. Supp. 2d 851, 83 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 378, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21381, 1998 WL 990579
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 16, 1998
DocketNo. 97-4025
StatusPublished

This text of 41 F. Supp. 2d 851 (Solomonson v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Solomonson v. United States, 41 F. Supp. 2d 851, 83 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 378, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21381, 1998 WL 990579 (C.D. Ill. 1998).

Opinion

ORDER

McDADE, Chief Judge.

Now before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, which seeks judgment as a matter of law on both Plaintiffs claim and Defendant’s counterclaim against Plaintiff. This case involves federal tax assessments derived from the failure of Premier Family Foods, Inc. (“Premier”) to remit taxes withheld from its employees’ wages during the last two quarters of 1992 and the first three quarters of 1993.

I. Local Rule 7.1(D)

The Court first notes that Plaintiff has failed to respond to Defendant’s statement of undisputed facts in accordance with Local Rule 7.1(D)(2) by submitting a separate document which numerically responds to each of Defendant’s undisputed facts.1 Plaintiff also failed to submit any additional undisputed facts in the form of a separate document which numerically fists each additional fact relied on with appropriate citations to supporting evidence in accordance with Local Rule 7.1(D)(3). The consequences of these failures are clearly set forth in Local Rule 7.1(D). Accordingly, the Court will treat Defendant’s Statement of Undisputed Facts as admitted and disregard Plaintiffs noncompfiant submissions to the extent that they are not conceded by Defendant.

The Seventh Circuit has “repeatedly ... sustained the entry of summary judgment where the non-movant has failed to submit a factual statement in the form called for by the pertinent rule and thereby concedes the movant’s version of the facts.” Waldridge v. American Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 922 (7th Cir.1994). Thus, the Court takes the statements from Defendant’s Statement of Undisputed Facts as largely uncontroverted, finds such facts to exist without substantial controversy, and deems them validated as to the trial of this action.

II. Undisputed Facts

Plaintiff was an incorporator, director, registered agent, and corporate secretary of Premier, a food service business operating out of the Quad Cities. He owned one-third of its stock and was to receive 20% of any profits.2 He was an authorized signatory on each of Premier’s checking accounts, and in fact, signed checks issued on each account.

Premier’s financial difficulties were apparent early on in its existence. Plaintiff was to receive a weekly salary of $500.00 from Premier for his services; however, his weekly paychecks continued for only a short time. Likewise, although Plaintiff owned the real property from which Premier operated, he only received rent for two or three months. Over the course of 1992 and 1993, he made a total of $92,-194.43 in personal loans to Premier, and even put his own car up as security for another loan.3 None of his personal loans were ever repaid.

[854]*854In June 1993, Plaintiff learned of an IRS levy on Premier’s bank account to collect delinquent withholding taxes from the company’s first quarter in business through a discussion with David Scott Wise (“Wise”), who made the business decisions and handled the day-to-day operations of Premier. However, he contends that he was led to believe that this was an isolated error. Other than signing checks prepared for his signature or occasionally writing out checks according to a list that he was given, Plaintiff had little to do with Premier’s operations or business dealings and trusted Wise to do a good job managing his investment.

However, Plaintiff became' more involved in the company’s daily business operations in August 1998, when he learned that checks issued on Premier’s account were not being honored, and Wise was nowhere to be found. On August 7, 1993, he closed Premier’s bank account and opened a new account to which he was the only authorized signatory. Two days later, acting in his purported capacity as sole shareholder, he executed a document removing Wise and his father, Donald T. Wise, as directors of Premier. He also removed Wise from his position as president and treasurer, removed Donald T. Wise from his position as vice-president, terminated the employment of Roni D. Wise, and terminated his own employment with the company.

On September 25, 1995, a representative of the Secretary of the Treasury made an assessment against Plaintiff in the amount of $28,414.09 pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 6672. Notice of this assessment and a demand for payment were sent to Plaintiff. Although he once remitted a check in the amount of $149.36 to be applied to the assessment, he subsequently sought to have this payment refunded and has refused to remit full payment.

On March 19,1997, Plaintiff brought this action pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7422(a) seeking a refund of the one payment made and abatement of the taxes assessed against him. Defendant responded with a counterclaim against Plaintiff that also joined Wise as a counterclaim-defendant. On July 16, 1998, Defendant moved impartial summary judgment, asserting that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Plaintiffs complaint and that it is entitled to have its assessment reduced to a judgment against Plaintiff. This Order follows.

Legal Standard

A motion for summary judgment will be granted where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party has the responsibility of informing the Court of portions of the record or affidavits that demonstrate the absence of a triable issue. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party may meet its burden of showing an absence of material facts by demonstrating “that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case.” Id. at 2553. Any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue for trial is resolved against the moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Cain v. Lane, 857 F.2d 1139, 1142 (7th Cir.1988).

If .the moving party meets its burden, the non-moving party then has the burden of presenting specific facts to show that there is a genuine issue of material fact. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1355-56, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(e) requires the non-moving party to go beyond the pleadings and produce evidence of a genuine issue for trial. Celotex Corp., 106 S.Ct. at 2553. This Court must then determine whether there is a need for trial — whether, in other words, there are any genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may be reasonably resolved [855]*855in favor of either party. Anderson,

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41 F. Supp. 2d 851, 83 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 378, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21381, 1998 WL 990579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/solomonson-v-united-states-ilcd-1998.