Sunlight Electrical Contracting Co. v. Turchi

918 F. Supp. 2d 392, 2013 WL 228122, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8666
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 18, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 08-5834
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 918 F. Supp. 2d 392 (Sunlight Electrical Contracting Co. v. Turchi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District 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
Sunlight Electrical Contracting Co. v. Turchi, 918 F. Supp. 2d 392, 2013 WL 228122, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8666 (E.D. Pa. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

DALZELL, District Judge.

On May 30, 2008, Sunlight Electrical Contracting Co., Inc. (“Sunlight”), brought this case in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Notice of Removal, Ex. B. Sunlight, a construction subcontractor, sought $1,034,581.80 for alleged non-payment of fees for construction services it provided to the defendants.

The defendants removed to this Court, asserting federal question jurisdiction on the basis of 28 U.S.C. § 1331 because plaintiffs claims included a claim for civil RICO under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c). Notice of Removal at 1. Sunlight invokes this Court’s supplemental jurisdiction over its state law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

In January of 2009 defendants 23S23 and CHC LP filed a third-party complaint against Hunter Roberts Construction Group, Inc. alleging that to the extent 23S23 and CHC LP are liable to Sunlight for nonpayment related to Sunlight’s work on one of the construction projects, located in Philadelphia at 23 South 23rd Street, such liability arose out of the errors of Hunter Roberts, the construction manager for that project. Third Party Comp. ¶¶ 33-39. 23S23 and CHC LP thus sought indemnification from Hunter Roberts on those claims. Id. at ¶¶ 63-64.

[395]*395Discovery in the case closed in September of 2011, and the parties filed a flurry of motions, including Sunlight’s motion to amend its complaint.1 On April 24, 2012, we granted Sunlight’s motion to amend in part. Sunlight promptly filed an amended complaint in which it reduced the scope of the action. While Sunlight, in its original complaint, sought damages based on alleged nonpayment for work it performed at 23 South 23rd Street, 400-414 Walnut Street, 1930-34 Chestnut Street, and 1700 Walnut Street, its amended complaint seeks damages only for nonpayment on the 23 South 23rd Street project.

The'complaint as amended seeks damages from John Turchi, Jr., Turchi, Inc., Carriage House Condominiums, L.P. (“CHC LP”), Carriage House Condominiums, G.P., Inc. (“CHC GP”), and 23S23 Construction, Inc. (“23S23”). Sunlight asserts claims for breach of contract and violations of the Pennsylvania Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act (“CAS-PA”), 73 Pa. Stat. Ann. §§ 501 et seq. against 23S23 (Count I), Am. Comp. ¶¶ 47-54; a claim for breach of contract/implied contract and CASPA violations against Turchi, Inc., CHC LP, and CHC GP for nonpayment of invoices (Count II), Am. Comp. ¶¶ 55-67; the same claims against CHC LP, CHCH GP, Turchi, Inc., and 23S23 for nonpayment of invoices and nonpayment of costs incurred after the end of the contractual period (Count III), Am. Comp. ¶¶ 68-76; claims of unjust enrichment against Turchi, Inc., CHC LP, and CHC GP for nonpayment of costs incurred when Sunlight customized two units at 23 South 23rd Street (Count IV), Am. Comp. ¶¶ 77-83; and claims against John Turchi, Jr. for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968 (“RICO”) (Count VI), Am. Comp. ¶¶ 116-144. Sunlight also brings a claim of “Piercing the Corporate Veil; Alter Ego; Fraud” against John Turchi, Jr. (Count V), Am. Comp. ¶¶ 84-115, and asserts an alter ego theory against Turchi, Inc. in Counts II and III.

Before us now are two motions for summary judgment. Defendants John Turchi, Jr., Turchi, Inc., CHC LP, and CHC GP2 (“defendants”) move for partial summary judgment on Sunlight’s amended complaint seeking judgment in their favor on the veil piercing claims at Counts II, III, and V, and on Sunlight’s civil RICO claim at Count VI. Third-party defendant Hunter Roberts Construction Group, LLC (“Hunter Roberts”) moves for summary judgment on the third-party complaint. We first consider- the defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the RICO claim because this claim constitutes the sole basis for our original jurisdiction.

I. Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Sunlight’s RICO Claim

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a), “[t]he court shall grant summary judgment if the [396]*396movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” A party opposing a motion for summary judgment “must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). We will thus begin by reviewing the facts with regard to the RICO claim in Sunlight’s amended complaint.3

A. Factual Background

We rehearse the facts in detail so that we may apply the scrutiny needed to determine whether the facts reveal the requisite deceit to support Sunlight’s civil RICO claim, or, instead, whether they merely suggest a breach of contract.4

Sunlight Electrical Contracting Co., Inc. is an electrical design and construction subcontractor. Am. Comp. ¶ 15. On February 25, 2004, Turchi incorporated 23S23, Inc., CHC LP, and CHC GP in Delaware. Am. Comp. ¶¶ 130-31; Ans. ¶ 86 (admitting that the entities were formed in Delaware on that date). CHC GP is the general partner of CHC LP. Ans. to Am. Comp. ¶ 8.

When Sunlight and the defendants began working together on the 23 South 23rd [397]*397Street project, Sunlight had already worked on four projects for Turchi. In 1999 Sunlight began working on a Turchi development at 1700 Walnut Street. Def. Mem. at 18. In 2000, Sunlight worked on a project at 1600 Sansom Street. Michael DiSandro Dep., Pl. Br. in Opp. Ex. 56 at 51:18-22. In 2001, Sunlight began work on a project at 400 Walnut Street. Pl. Br. in Opp. at 36. In 2002, Sunlight began work on a project at 1930-34 Chestnut Street. Id. All of those projects were in Philadelphia.

For the project at 400 Walnut Street, Sunlight claims that in August of 2001 Turchi put forward “Walnut Construction” as the “owner” and caused Walnut Construction to enter a contract with Sunlight for Sunlight to perform electrical work at 400 Walnut Street. Pl. Br. in Opp. at 34. Sunlight avers that the owner was in fact 400 Walnut Associates, L.P. Am. Comp. ¶¶ 113-114. Walnut Construction did not have any assets of its own.5 Turchi Dep. in In re: 23S23 Construction, Inc., No. 09-12652, Bankr.E.D. Pa., at 103:10-13, Pl. Br. in Opp, Ex. 58. Pursuant to that contract, Sunlight was to receive $827,000, Am. Comp. ¶ 113, and Sunlight claims that it is still owed $203,151.68 from that amount. Pl. Initial Disclosures, Pl. Br. in Opp., Ex. 57.

Sunlight avers that it entered into contracts with Affordable Fire Protection, Inc. and Walnut Construction to perform work on 1930-34 Chestnut Street, Am. Comp. ¶¶ 117, 121, and it claims it is owed $261,585.58 for that work. Dec. 17, 2007 Letter, Pl. Br. in Opp., Ex. 57.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
918 F. Supp. 2d 392, 2013 WL 228122, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sunlight-electrical-contracting-co-v-turchi-paed-2013.