Bailey v. Skipperliner Industries, Inc.

• Citation: 278 F.Supp.2d 945
• Decision Date: 22 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 3:01CV0361 CAN.,3:01CV0361 CAN.
• Parties: Harold "Bill" BAILEY and Carole Bailey, Plaintiffs, v. SKIPPERLINER INDUSTRIES, INC. and CATERPILLAR, INC., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

278 F.Supp.2d 945

Harold "Bill" BAILEY and Carole Bailey, Plaintiffs, v. SKIPPERLINER INDUSTRIES, INC. and CATERPILLAR, INC., Defendants.

No. 3:01CV0361 CAN.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, South Bend Division.

August 22, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John C Theisen, Holly A Brady, Theisen and Associates LLC, Fort Wayne, for Harold "Bill" Bailey, Carole Bailey, plaintiffs.

Thomas A Herr, John F Lyons, Michael H Michmerhuizen, Barrett and McNagny, Fort Wayne, Brian W Bell, Angela R Karras Swanson Martin and Bell — Chi/IL, Chicago, IL, for Skipperliner Industries Inc, Caterpillar Inc, defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NUECHTERLEIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiffs Harold and Carole Bailey ("the Baileys") initiated suit against Defendants Skipperliner Industries, Inc. ("Skipperliner") and Caterpillar, Inc. ("Caterpillar") on May 16, 2001. All parties consented to this Court's jurisdiction on July 16, 2001, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). On May 12, 2003, Caterpillar filed a motion for summary judgment followed by Skipperliner's motion for partial summary judgment filed on May 13, 2003. The parties also filed various motions before and after Defendants' filings including Plaintiffs' motion to strike, filed on April 24, 2003; and Skipperliner's first and second motions to strike, filed on May 13, 2003, and June 2, 2003, respectively. This Court conducted oral arguments on Defendants' motions for summary judgment on August 11, 2003. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs' motion to strike [Doc. No. 55] is DENIED AS MOOT; Skipperliner's motion for partial summary judgment [Doc. No. 66] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; Skipperliner's first motion to strike [Doc. No. 72] is GRANTED IN PART, and DENIED AS MOOT IN PART; Caterpillar's motion for summary judgment [Doc. No. 77] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART; and Skipperliner's second motion to strike [Doc. No. 88] is DENIED AS MOOT.

I. BACKGROUND

This case concerns the purchase and subsequent malfunction of a fifty-four foot houseboat. At all times relevant to this litigation, Plaintiffs Harold and Carole Bailey ("the Baileys") were citizens and residents of Michigan City, Indiana. Defendant Skipperliner Industries, Inc. ("Skipperliner") is a Wisconsin Corporation with its principal place of business in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Defendant Caterpillar, Inc. ("Caterpillar") is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Peoria, Illinois.

A. Factual History

All relevant background information, taken in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, is as follows:

1. Plaintiffs' Purchase of the Boat

In August 1996, Plaintiffs visited a boat show in Michigan City, Indiana, where they met with Dan Nelson, vice president of Skipperliner Industries. At that time, Plaintiffs were interested in purchasing a used boat for their retirement, and Nelson showed Plaintiffs a boat he had at the show. That evening, Nelson and John Kitchin, a Skipperliner representative, visited the Baileys and convinced them to visit Skipperliner's facilities in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to view Skipperliner's products.

Plaintiffs visited LaCrosse twice during September 1996, where they viewed several of Skipperliner's boats. Plaintiffs made a third trip to LaCrosse on October 12, 1996, and signed an agreement to purchase a new 1996 Motoryacht 543.¹ Upon purchasing the boat, Nelson informed the Baileys that the boat had been ordered and built for another customer, Dan Sawicki, and that Sawicki had refused delivery. After arranging financing, the Baileys took possession of the boat on November 22, 1996.

2. Plaintiffs' Maiden Voyage

Upon receipt of the boat, Plaintiffs sailed from LaCrosse to Cuba Landing, Tennessee. Plaintiffs' initial voyage, however, was marked with difficulties. On their trip to Tennessee, the boat's refrigerator stopped running, the electronic compasses would not function, the flag pole came loose and fell off, the anchor malfunctioned, the seal around the head leaked, and the couch included with the boat was not a sofa bed as provided in the contract. Most notably, the Baileys noticed excessive amounts of soot from the boat's diesel engines accumulating on the boat's transom.² The boat's engines were manufactured by Caterpillar. On December 26, 1996, the Bailey's wrote Skipperliner, listing the items needing repair. Plaintiffs' letter, however, did not note that the engines were malfunctioning. See (H. Bailey Dep. Ex. GG).

3. Further Problems

The Baileys kept the boat in Tennessee during the winter of 1996, and cruised the boat from Cuba Landing to their home port in Michigan City in April 1997. During their April 1997, trip, Plaintiffs noticed further accumulation of diesel soot on the boat's transom and flybridge.³ The Baileys used the boat periodically throughout the summer and cruised the boat back to Cuba Landing in September 1997. The Baileys sent Skipperliner several letters throughout their first year of boat ownership, none of which raised the soot accumulation problem from the boat's diesel engines. See e.g. (H. Bailey Dep. Ex. GG, II, JJ, KK, MM).

As Plaintiffs began to use the boat more frequently from 1997 to 1999, they experienced many other difficulties with the boat and the engines, including excessive fuel consumption and occasional engine breakdowns. The Baileys first contacted Caterpillar about their engine problems in 1999, resulting in several repairs and Caterpillar's eventual rebuilding the boat's starboard engine and replacing the boat's port engine in 1999. The engines showed significant improvement following the 1999 repairs, but began to experience the same problems in the spring and fall of 2000.

B. Procedural History

1. Parties' Initial Pleadings

Plaintiffs initiated this action on May 16, 2001. Plaintiffs' amended complaint, filed on February 20, 2002, alleges six counts against Skipperliner: (1) fraud, (2) breach of contract relating to the purchase of Plaintiffs' boat, (3) breach of contract relating to Skipperliner's agreement to repair the boat, (4) breach of express warranty, (5) breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and (6) breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. The complaint also alleges three counts against Caterpillar: (1) breach of express warranty, (2) breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and (3) breach of agreement to repair.

Skipperliner filed its answer to Plaintiffs' amended complaint on April 15, 2003. Skipperliner's answer included a counter claim against Plaintiffs for attorney fees and a cross claim against Caterpillar for breach of contract related to Caterpillar's alleged failure to satisfy its repair obligations to Plaintiffs.

2. Pending Motions

At present, there are five pending motions in this case. This Court has jurisdiction over these motions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 636(c).

a) Caterpillar's Motion for Summary Judgment

Caterpillar moved for summary judgment on May 12, 2003. Caterpillar's motion concerns all three counts of Plaintiffs' claim.

b) Skipperliner's Motion for Summary Judgment

Skipperliner moved for partial summary judgment on May 13, 2003. Skipperliner's motion requests summary judgment on four counts: (1) Plaintiffs' fraud claim, (2) Plaintiffs' breach of contract claims, (3) Plaintiffs' claim for breach of express warranty, and (4) Plaintiffs' claim for punitive damages.

c) Parties' Motions to Strike

The remaining motions concern the parties' motions to strike various portions of each parties' filings. This order will individually address the instances where it is necessary to rely on materials subject to each motion to strike. All other objections which are not specifically addressed in this order, and hence not relied upon, are DENIED AS MOOT.

3. Conceded Claims

In their response to Defendants' motions, Plaintiffs concede their claims against Skipperliner as to Skipperliner's alleged breach of contract to repair the boat, (Pla. Resp. at 35), and against Caterpillar as to Caterpillar's alleged breach of an implied warranty of merchantability. (Pla. Resp. at 27). Defendants' motions for summary judgment as they pertain to these claims are therefore GRANTED.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper where the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c); Lawson v. CSX Transp., Inc., 245 F.3d 916, 922 (7th Cir.2001). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, this Court must construe all facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party as well as draw all reasonable and justifiable inferences in favor of that party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); King v. Preferred Technical Group, 166 F.3d 887, 890 (7th Cir.1999). To overcome a motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party cannot rest on the mere allegations or denials contained in its pleadings. Rather, the nonmoving party must present sufficient evidence to show the existence of each element of its case on which it will bear the burden at trial. Celotex v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Robin v. Espo Engineering Corp., 200 F.3d 1081, 1088 (7th Cir.2000); See also N.D. Ind. L.R. 56.1(b) ("In determining a motion for summary judgment, this Court will assume that the facts as claimed and supported by admissible evidence by the moving party are admitted to exist without controversy, except to the extent that such facts are controverted ... as supported by the depositions, discovery responses, affidavits, and other admissible evidence on file."). Where a factual record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no genuine...