Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.

Citation518 F. Supp. 102
Decision Date17 June 1981
Docket NumberCiv. A. No. 74-122.
PartiesJoseph A. BONJORNO, George M. Kerr, Jr. and Barbara K. Clisby, as Transferees in Liquidation and Dissolution of Columbia Metal Culvert Co., Inc. v. KAISER ALUMINUM & CHEMICAL CORP. and Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Sales, Inc.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Pennsylvania)

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael M. Baylson, Duane, Morris & Heckscher, Philadelphia, Pa., for plaintiffs.

Richard P. McElroy, Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM and ORDER

SHAPIRO, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Post-trial motions in this antitrust litigation are before the court pursuant to a limited remand order of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Defendants Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. ("KACC") and Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Sales, Inc. ("KACSI") move for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial, following a jury verdict in favor of Columbia Metal Culvert Co., Inc. ("Columbia")1 finding KACC and KACSI in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 and 2, and awarding damages in the sum of $1,815,000. Judgment was entered for the plaintiff in the trebled amount of $5,445,000.

Columbia originally brought suit against KACC and KACSI and former Columbia salesman Robert A. Kennedy and the company he owned, Kennedy Culvert and Supply, an independent distributor of culvert and drainage pipe manufactured by KACSI. The complaint alleged violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 and 2, and Section 3 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 14. At the jury trial held before the Hon. Edward N. Cahn, a directed verdict for all defendants was entered at the close of Columbia's case on the ground that Columbia had not made out a prima facie case of conspiracy in restraint of trade between KACC/KACSI and the Kennedy defendants. The district court further found that the product market was not limited to aluminum culvert pipe as Columbia had maintained but included culvert pipe whether made from either aluminum or steel. Since the Kaiser share of the aluminum and steel culvert pipe market was concededly not significant, the court held that Kaiser could not have monopoly power. The court further found that no prima facie violation of Section 3 of the Clayton Act had been proven. See, Columbia Metal Culvert Co., Inc. v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., Civil Action No. 74-122 (July 20, 1977).

On appeal by Columbia, the Third Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part. The Court affirmed the grant of a directed verdict in favor of the Kennedy defendants on the issue of conspiracy. The Court also upheld the district court's finding that no prima facie case of a Clayton Act violation had been proven. However, the grant of a directed verdict in favor of defendants KACC and KACSI was reversed. The Court held that:

(1) There was sufficient evidence to allow a jury reasonably to conclude that a relevant market for Sherman Act purposes was composed of aluminum culvert only rather than culvert of either aluminum or steel;
(2) There was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on the charge that KACSI and KACC violated § 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing or attempting to monopolize the aluminum culvert market; and
(3) There was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on the charge that KACC and KACSI conspired in restraint of trade in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act.
Columbia Metal Culvert Company, Inc. v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 579 F.2d 20, 37 (3d Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 876, 99 S.Ct. 214, 58 L.Ed.2d 190 (1978).

A bifurcated trial before this court resulted in a determination of defendants' liability in answer to special interrogatories (attached to this opinion as Appendix A); the jury found that the relevant product market was for aluminum culvert pipe, that defendants KACC and KACSI had monopolized, attempted to monopolize, and conspired to monopolize this market in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act; that KACC and KACSI had conspired in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act; and that Columbia had been injured by the unlawful acts of KACC and KACSI.

The jury then awarded damages in the amount of $1,048,000 for lost profits, $710,000 for the destruction of Columbia as a going concern, and $57,000 for the cost of extra metal (relating to Columbia's spiral machine for making pipe), a total of $1,815,000, which trebled resulted in a judgment of $5,445,000. Following a second appeal, the case was remanded to the district court for disposition of post-trial motions.2 (Docket Entry # 426). Columbia having won a jury verdict at trial, we consider the following facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff.

Columbia was a company specializing in the manufacture and marketing of aluminum culvert pipe with a plant in Vineland, New Jersey. KACC manufactures aluminum sheet and coil from which aluminum culvert pipe is constructed and conveys these materials to its wholly-owned subsidiary KACSI, which in turn sells the sheet and coil to pipe manufacturers such as Columbia. KACSI also fabricates and sells aluminum culvert pipe itself in competition with the fabricators to whom it supplies sheet and coil.

These three entities had a successful business relationship for many years during which Kaiser was Columbia's main material supplier. Beginning in 1971, a four-pronged effort took place to put Columbia out of business in retaliation for Columbia's placing of aluminum orders with Reynolds Aluminum. This KACC/KACSI effort included a refusal to sell to Columbia, a decision to locate a new culvert manufacturing plant within fifty miles of Columbia's plant, setting up Robert A. Kennedy, Columbia's best salesman, in business as an independent distributor of KACSI products, and a "price squeeze" by KACC and KACSI, accomplished by transferring sheet and coil from KACC to KACSI below cost. This allowed KACSI to make a profit on sales of pipe at prices which Columbia could not match; the price of aluminum was increasing and the supply of the metal was severely limited.

The Kaiser defendants move this court for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, on the ground that Columbia produced insufficient evidence to support the verdict in several material respects. In the alternative, defendants move for a new trial on the ground that the verdict was contrary to law, against the weight of the evidence, and that the court erred in certain evidentiary rulings, in jury instructions, and in submission of certain interrogatories to the jury.

In ruling on a motion for judgment N.O.V., "it is the duty of the trial court to take that view of the evidence most favorable to the party against whom the motion is made, and from that evidence, and the inferences reasonably and justifiably to be drawn therefrom, determine whether or not, under the law, a verdict might be found for him." 6A Moore's Federal Practice § 59.085 at pg. 59-152 (1979). On the other hand, a motion for new trial, on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Id.

POST-TRIAL MOTIONS—LIABILITY

Defendants' contentions must fail in view of the Circuit Court's opinion in Columbia Metal Culvert Company, Inc. v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, 579 F.2d 20 (3d Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 876, 99 S.Ct. 214, 58 L.Ed.2d 190 (1978) and the doctrine of the law of the case.

As noted in Otten v. Stonewall Ins. Co., 538 F.2d 210, 212 (8th Cir. 1976):

This court has repeatedly held that the decision on former appeal is the `law of the case' on a question presented in that former appeal, unless the evidence introduced at the subsequent trial is substantially different from that considered on the first appeal, and must be followed in all subsequent proceedings in such case in both district and appellate courts, unless the decision is clearly erroneous and works manifest injustice. (emphasis supplied, citations omitted).

See, e. g., United States v. American Bag & Paper Corp., 609 F.2d 1066, 1067, n.3 (3d Cir. 1979) (determination by panel of Court of Appeals was law of the case and later panel was bound by it); Skehan v. Board of Trustees of Bloomsburg State College, 590 F.2d 470, 482 (3d Cir. 1978), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 832, 100 S.Ct. 61, 62 L.Ed.2d 41 (1979) (Court of Appeals' prior opinions were law governing the case with respect to question of whether it was permissible to remand plaintiff's due process claims to district court and district court's observations on remand were of no effect); Chlystek v. Kane, 540 F.2d 171, 173 (3d Cir. 1976) (Court of Appeals governed by law of the case from prior appeal with respect to whether a substantial federal question was present); Spock v. David, 502 F.2d 953, 955 (3d Cir. 1974), reversed on other grounds, 424 U.S. 828, 96 S.Ct. 1211, 47 L.Ed.2d 505 (1976) (on essentially the same record as was before the Court of Appeals prior to remand, both the district court on remand and the panel of the Court of Appeals on appeal following remand were bound, with respect to issue decided by the Court of Appeals prior to remand, by decision on that issue as the law of the case); A. M. Webb & Co. v. Robert P. Miller Co., 176 F.2d 678, 680-81 (3d Cir. 1946) (on trial after remand of case, questions settled by Court of Appeals could not be relitigated); Moyer v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 126 F.2d 141, 143 (3d Cir. 1942) (law of case on prior appeal as to sufficiency of the evidence on certain points precluded reconsideration thereof upon defendant's appeal of district court denial of judgment N.O.V. after second trial).

This court is bound by the Third Circuit's decision on issues presented and decided explicitly or implicitly in the prior appeal. See, Todd and Company, Inc. v. SEC, 637 F.2d 154 (3d Cir. 1980). For this reason we reject Kaiser's initial contention in...

To continue reading

Request your trial
12 cases
  • Kaiser Aluminum Chemical Corporation v. Bonjorno Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum Chemical Corporation
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 17 Abril 1990
    ...not support the jury's damages award and granted Kaiser's motion for a new trial as to damages only. Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 518 F.Supp. 102, 109, 119 (ED Pa.1981). A limited retrial on damages resulted in a jury award on December 2, 1981, in the trebled amount of $9,5......
  • Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 88-1318
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • 13 Febrero 1989
    ...did not support the jury's damage award and granted Kaiser's motion for a new trial as to damages only. Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp., 518 F.Supp. 102, 109, 119 (E.D.Pa.1981). Additionally, the district court granted Kaiser's motion for judgment NOV as to a portion of the damage......
  • International Wood Processors v. Power Dry, Civ. No. 82-2115-14.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court of South Carolina
    • 14 Agosto 1984
    ...proof." L. Sullivan, Antitrust, supra, id. (emphasis added, footnotes omitted). See also, Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 518 F.Supp. 102, 114 (E.D.Pa.1981) (once fact of injury has been proven, the burden on the antitrust plaintiff to establish the precise amount of damages i......
  • Lanza v. Poretti, Civ. A. No. 80-3233.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 3th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Pennsylvania)
    • 16 Abril 1982
    ...Inc., 579 F.2d 793, 796 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 930, 99 S.Ct. 318, 58 L.Ed.2d 323 (1978); Bonjorno v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 518 F.Supp. 102, 105 (D.C.E.D.Pa.1981). The decision of the jury may be overturned only if the facts and all reasonable and justifiable inferenc......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT