Spada Properties, Inc. v. Unified Grocers, Inc.

38 F. Supp. 3d 1223, 2014 WL 4058967, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113519
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedAugust 15, 2014
DocketCase No. 3:13-cv-01760-SI
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 38 F. Supp. 3d 1223 (Spada Properties, Inc. v. Unified Grocers, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spada Properties, Inc. v. Unified Grocers, Inc., 38 F. Supp. 3d 1223, 2014 WL 4058967, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113519 (D. Or. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MICHAEL H. SIMON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Spada Properties, Inc., doing business as United Salad Co. (“USC”), brings this lawsuit against Defendant Unified Grocers, Inc. (“Unified”), alleging claims regarding the bankruptcy of a “Food 4 Less” grocery store to which both USC and Unified supplied groceries. USC asserts two claims: (1) violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (“PACA”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 499b, 499e; and (2) money had and received. Unified raises ten affirmative defenses: (1) waiver; (2) statute of limitations; (3) laches; (4) failure to state a claim; (5) bona fide purchaser; (6) good faith beneficiary pursuant to Or.Rev.Stat. § 130.855 and Uniform Trust Code § 1012; (7) unclean hands; (8) failure to mitigate; (9) estoppel and course of dealings; and (10) consent. USC has [1227]*1227moved for summary judgment on all claims and all defenses.

STANDARDS

A party is entitled to summary judgment if the “movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). The moving party has the burden of establishing the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant and draw all reasonable inferences in the non-movant’s favor. Clicks Billiards Inc. v. Sixshooters Inc., 251 F.3d 1252, 1257 (9th Cir.2001). Although “[c]redibility determinations, the weighing, of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts are jury functions, not those of a judge ... ruling on a motion for summary judgment,” the “mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position [is] insufficient....” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). “Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

BACKGROUND

Congress enacted PACA in 1930 “in order to provide growers and sellers of agricultural commodities with ‘a self-help tool ... enable[ing] them to protect themselves against the abnormal risk of losses resulting from slow-pay and no-pay practices by buyers or receivers of fruits and vegetables.’” D.M. Rothman & Co. v. Korea Commercial Bank of New York, 411 F.3d 90, 93 (2d Cir.2005) (alterations in original) (citing Regulations Under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act; Addition of Provisions to Effect a Statutory Trust, Final Rule, 49 Fed.Reg. 45735, 45737 (USDA Nov. 20, 1984)). PACA requires purchasers of perishable produce to provide full and prompt payment to produce sellers. 7 U.S.C. § 499b(4). As described more fully below, § 499e(c)(2) of PACA creates a' non-segregated, floating trust for the benefit of the seller of perishable commodities. The trust comes into existence when the produce is delivered, and remains in effect until payment is received. See Sunkist Growers, Inc. v. Fisher, 104 F.3d 280, 281 (9th Cir.1997). PACA trust rights are superior to the rights of secured creditors, which can in certain circumstances be required to disgorge any PACA trust proceeds received. See Endico Potatoes, Inc. v. CIT Grp./Factoring, Inc., 67 F.3d 1063, 1067 (2d Cir.1995); Consumers Produce Co. v. Volante Wholesale Produce, Inc., 16 F.3d 1374, 1381 (3d Cir.1994).

USC is an Oregon corporation that sells and distributes fresh fruit and produce and is licensed by the Secretary of Agriculture under PACA. For almost 20 years, USC was the primary wholesale produce supplier for Food Ventures 87, Inc. doing business as “Food 4 Less” (“Food 4 Less”). This case, however, deals only with produce sales made between July 21, 2011 and April 24, 2012.

Unified is a secured seller of non-PACA qualified food and also supplies groceries to Food 4 Less. As part of the initial purchase agreement between Food 4 Less and Unified, Food 4 Less authorized Unified to withdraw automatic payments from Food 4 Less’ bank accounts. During the period at issue, Unified received payments from Food 4 Less totaling $8,099,459.16. [1228]*1228These payments were made through automatic withdrawals.

Between July 21, 2011 and April 24, 2012, USC sold fresh fruit and produce to Food 4 Less on terms requiring payment within ten days after invoice. The invoice date was also the date of delivery. Each invoice sent by USC to Food 4 Less included the following statement:

The perishable agricultural commodities listed on this statement are sold subject to the statutory trust authorized by Section 5(c) of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1980 (7 U.S.C. 499e(c)). The seller of these commodities retains a trust claim over these commodities, all inventories of food or other products derived from these commodities and any receivables or proceeds from the sale of these commodities until full payment is received.

Spada Decl. ¶ 8, Dkt. 16.

Although the formal terms included in USC’s invoices to Food 4 Less required-payment in full within ten days of delivery, in the course of practice, USC allowed Food 4 Less to pay within 80 days of delivery. At some unspecified point, Food 4 Less began to pay even later than 30 days after delivery. USC decided not to commence collection actions against Food 4 Less because of its past experiences with Food 4 Less and the reassurances made to USC by the owners of Food 4 Less.

After Food 4 Less began to experience financial difficulties, it got further and further behind on payments owed to USC. In January of 2009, Food 4 Less was five months behind on payments. Ernest Spada, the owner of USC, and Michael Leech, the owner of the Food 4 Less, talked frequently about Food 4 Less’ growing inability to pay USC. In July of 2009, USC asked for and received from Food 4 Less for a promissory note for $500,000. USC used the payments on the $500,000 promissory note to reduce a portion of Food 4 Less’ past due accounts. The note required Food 4 Less to pay $22,000 a month to USC for two years. This covered both the principal and interest due on the $500,000 note.

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38 F. Supp. 3d 1223, 2014 WL 4058967, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spada-properties-inc-v-unified-grocers-inc-ord-2014.