Solvay USA, Inc. v. Cutting Edge Fabrication, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 22, 2021
Docket1:20-cv-00849
StatusUnknown

This text of Solvay USA, Inc. v. Cutting Edge Fabrication, Inc. (Solvay USA, Inc. v. Cutting Edge Fabrication, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Solvay USA, Inc. v. Cutting Edge Fabrication, Inc., (N.D. Ill. 2021).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

SOLVAY USA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) Case No. 20-cv-849 ) v. ) Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr. ) CUTTING EDGE FABRICATION, ) INC., ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER For the reasons stated below, Defendant Cutting Edge Fabrication’s motion to dismiss [26] pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) is granted in part and denied in part. Specifically, it is denied with respect to Counts II and III. It is granted with respect to the remaining counts. Count V is dismissed with prejudice. Counts I, IV, and VI are dismissed without prejudice. Plaintiff may file an amended complaint, if it can do so consistent with the analysis in this opinion and Rule 11, by March 22, 2021. STATEMENT I. Background1 In May of 2018, Plaintiff Solvay USA, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) provided Defendant Cutting Edge Fabrication, Inc. (“Defendant”) with specifications for Defendant to bid on a contract for two atmospheric tanks for Plaintiff’s use at its plant in University Park, Illinois. [1] at ¶ 5. On June 18, 2018, Defendant submitted a final proposal to Plaintiff for the tanks, and Plaintiff issued a purchase

1 For purposes of ruling on Defendant’s motion to dismiss, the Court accepted as true all well-pleaded factual allegations set forth in Plaintiff’s complaint and drew all reasonable inferences in Plaintiff’s favor. Calderon-Ramirez v. McCament, 877 F.3d 272, 275 (7th Cir. 2017) (quoting Kubiak v. City of Chicago, 810 F.3d 476, 480-81 (7th Cir. 2016)). order for the atmospheric tanks on June 20, 2018. [1] at ¶¶ 6-7. Plaintiff’s purchase order was subject to its own terms and conditions and identified the “critical” nature of Defendant’s services to Plaintiff’s operations at its University Park plant. [1] at ¶ 7. Defendant began fabrication of the atmospheric tanks upon receipt of Plaintiff’s payment, and Plaintiff received the finished tanks in

November of 2018. [1] at ¶¶ 8-9. After the tanks were delivered, Plaintiff determined they were materially defective upon discovering several deficiencies, including leaks, cracks, and welding defects; Plaintiff alleges that the tanks “failed to meet relevant repad requirements and API 650 standards.” [1] at ¶ 10. Plaintiff notified Defendant of the defects in the tanks upon discovery, and Defendant tried and failed to repair the tanks on multiple occasions. [1] at ¶ 11. As a result of the unrepaired deficiencies in the atmospheric tanks, Plaintiff alleges that it has suffered ongoing losses of more than $900,000. [1] at ¶ 12. Plaintiff now brings six claims against Defendant, including a breach of contract (Count I), breach of express warranty (Count II), indemnification (Count III), breach of implied warranty of merchantability (Count IV), breach of implied warranty of fitness for the ordinary purpose (Count V), and breach of implied warranty of fitness for the

particular purpose (Count VI). Defendant seeks dismissal of all six of Plaintiff’s claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. [26]. II. Legal Standard A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss challenges the legal sufficiency of the complaint, not the merits of the allegations. See, e.g., Gibson v. City of Chicago, 910 F.2d 1510, 1520 (7th Cir. 1990). The Court “construe[s] the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, accepting as true all well-pleaded facts alleged, and drawing all possible inferences in [his] favor.” See, e.g., Tamayo v. Blagojevich, 526 F.3d 1074, 1081 (7th Cir. 2008). A plaintiff can survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion by alleging facts which, when accepted as true, “plausibly suggest that the plaintiff has a right to relief, raising that possibility above a speculative level.” Cochran v. Illinois State Toll Highway Auth., 828 F.3d 597, 599 (7th Cir. 2016) (quoting EEOC v. Concentra Health Servs., Inc, 496 F.3d 773, 776 (7th Cir. 2007)). While the Court accepts as true a plaintiff’s factual

allegations for the purpose of a motion to dismiss, legal conclusions and threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action are not afforded the same presumption of truth. See, e.g., McReynolds v. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., 694 F.3d 873 (7th Cir. 2012) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)); Brooks v. Ross, 578 F.3d 574, 581 (7th Cir. 2009). III. Analysis A. Preliminary Matters The Court is facing a bare-bones complaint with motion to dismiss briefing that is somewhat clipped. As a result, a variety of issues are underdeveloped, one of which is worth addressing before turning to the 12(b)(6) analysis. That issue is what law applies to the case. Plaintiff appears to be bringing state-law claims, but Defendant points out that Plaintiff does not

identify what state’s laws (or, theoretically, what federal laws) Plaintiff wants to proceed under. The answer is not necessarily obvious, because Plaintiff is a Delaware corporation, Defendant is a North Carolina corporation, at least some key events alleged in the complaint (apparently) occurred in Illinois, and the contract at issue is not attached to the complaint or briefing. Plaintiff says it does not have to identify what state or federal law it is suing under, [30 at 3], citing Shah v. Inter-Cont’l Hotel Chicago Operating, 314 F.3d 278 (7th Cir. 2002), for the proposition that it is “not necessary for plaintiffs to plead the applicable law” and Greenbaum v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 451 F.Supp.2d 90, 95 (D.D.C. 2006), for the proposition that “[w]hile plaintiffs neglected in their complaint to reference California law, which governs the claims of the decedent’s parents, choice of law is not required in the initial complaint. Rather, it is a matter of argument and briefing.” [30 at 3.] First, Shah says a complaint cannot necessarily dismissed because it does not identify what statute, state or federal, or common law principle the conduct alleged in the complaint might

violate. Shah v. Inter-Cont’l Hotel Chicago Operating Corp., 314 F.3d 278, 282 (7th Cir. 2002). But it does not give plaintiffs carte blanche to plead state law claims without identifying which state’s law applies, and that is the problem Defendant raises. Shah also notes that the district court could have asked the plaintiff to file a memorandum fleshing out the legal basis of the claims he asserted and reprimands plaintiff’s attorney for not identifying a relevant statute that he could have discovered “with a little research.” Id. at 283. So, Shah may be more of a warning to Plaintiff than an aid. Greenbaum also is of limited value, as an out-of-circuit district court case in which plaintiffs sought money damages from a foreign nation under the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. In addition to those dissimilarities, the issue that Plaintiff here

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Bluebook (online)
Solvay USA, Inc. v. Cutting Edge Fabrication, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/solvay-usa-inc-v-cutting-edge-fabrication-inc-ilnd-2021.