Benson Tower Condo. Owners Ass'n, an Or. Nonprofit Corp. v. Victaulic Co.

• Decision Date: 11 May 2015
• Docket Number: Case No. 3:13–cv–01010–SI.
• Citation: 105 F.Supp.3d 1184
• Parties: BENSON TOWER CONDOMINIUM OWNERS ASSOCIATION, an Oregon nonprofit corporation, Plaintiff, v. VICTAULIC COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Oregon

105 F.Supp.3d 1184

BENSON TOWER CONDOMINIUM OWNERS ASSOCIATION, an Oregon nonprofit corporation, Plaintiff, v. VICTAULIC COMPANY, a foreign corporation, Defendant.

Case No. 3:13–cv–01010–SI.

United States District Court,D. Oregon.

Signed May 11, 2015.

Michelle K. McClure, Stuart K. Cohen, James S. Crane, Landye Bennett Blumstein, LLP, Portland, OR, Richard N. Sieving, The Sieving Law Firm, A.P.C., Sacramento, CA, for Plaintiff.

Anne Cohen, Sharlei C. Hsu, Smith Freed & Eberhard, Julie Annette Smith, Thomas M. Christ, Cosgrave Vergeer Kester, Portland, OR, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

MICHAEL H. SIMON, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Benson Tower Condominium Owners Association (“Plaintiff” or “Association”), brought this action against Defendant, Victaulic Company (“Defendant” or “Victaulic”), as the manufacturer of allegedly defective plumbing products installed in the Benson Tower Condominium (“Benson Tower”). On January 15, 2015, following an eight-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff on its products liability claim and awarded Plaintiff $2,045,228 in damages. The jury found against Plaintiff on its claim for negligence and did not award punitive damages. Before the Court are three post-trial motions: (1) Plaintiff's Motion for Reasonable Expenses, Including Attorney's Fees (Dkt. 281), in which Plaintiff seeks under Rule 37(c)(2) “an award of $1,019,280, including but not limited to $857,537.58 in attorneys' fees, $21,621.44 in reasonably incurred costs,¹ and $140,120.98 in expert fees and costs” for Defendant's allegedly improper denial of Plaintiff's requests that Defendant admit that its products were defective; (2) Defendant's Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law (Dkt. 299); and (3) Defendant's Motion for New Trial (Dkt. 301). For the reasons that follow, all three post-trial motions are DENIED.

STANDARDS

A. Attorneys' Fees for Failure to Admit

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a)(1), “[a] party may serve on any other party a written request to admit, for purposes of the pending action only, the truth of any matters within the scope of Rule 26(b)(1) relating to: (A) facts, the application of law to fact, or opinions about either, and (B) the genuineness of any described documents.” The scope of Rule 26(b)(1) includes “discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense,” which “need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1).

1 When served with a request for admissions, a party must answer or object to the request. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a)(3). The party may not treat the request as “a mere procedural exercise requiring minimally acceptable conduct” and must provide “full and efficient discovery, not evasion and word play.” Marchand v. Mercy Med. Ctr., 22 F.3d 933, 936 (9th Cir.1994). If the party cannot admit or deny a matter, its answer must “state in detail” why. Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a)(4). If the party objects to a request, its answer must state the grounds for the objection. Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a)(5). “The requesting party may move to determine the sufficiency of an answer or objection. Unless the court finds an objection justified, it must order that an answer be served.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a)(6).

A party may be sanctioned under Rule 37(c)(2) for failure to comply with Rule 36(a). Rule 37(c)(2) provides:

If a party fails to admit what is requested under Rule 36 and if the requesting party later proves a document to be genuine or the matter true, the requesting party may move that the party who failed to admit pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred in making that proof.

The rule requires an award of expenses unless the court finds one of the following exceptions applies:

(A) the request was held objectionable under Rule 36(a); (B) the admission sought was of no substantial importance; (C) the party failing to admit had reasonable ground to believe that the party might prevail on the matter; or (D) there was other good reason for the failure to admit.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(c)(2). The ultimate goal of Rule 37(c)(2), like the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure generally, is “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” Marchand, 22 F.3d at 936 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 1). Rule 37(c)(2) “mandates an award of expenses unless an exception applies” and therefore “encourages attorneys and parties to identify undisputed issues early to avoid unnecessary costs. Failure to identify those issues wastes the resources of parties and courts.” Id. “[T]he true test under Rule 37(c) is not whether a party prevailed at trial but whether he acted reasonably in believing that he might prevail.” Id. at 937 (citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(c), Advisory Committee Notes on 1970 Amendment).

B. Judgment as a Matter of Law

23 Judgment as a matter of law is proper if “the evidence permits only one reasonable conclusion, and that conclusion is contrary to the jury's verdict.” E.E.O.C. v. Go Daddy Software, Inc., 581 F.3d 951, 961 (9th Cir.2009) (quotation marks omitted); see also Weaving v. City of Hillsboro, 763 F.3d 1106, 1111 (9th Cir.2014) (explaining that judgment as a matter of law must be granted if it is clear that “the evidence and its inferences cannot reasonably support a judgment in favor of the opposing party”). Because a motion under Rule 50(b) is a renewed motion, a party cannot “raise arguments in its post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law that it did not first raise in its Rule 50(a) pre-verdict motion.” Go Daddy Software, 581 F.3d at 961 (quotation marks omitted).

45 In evaluating a motion for judgment as a matter of law, the Court must view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. v. Hendrixlicensing.com, Ltd., 762 F.3d 829, 842 (9th Cir.2014). The Court may not, however, make credibility determinations, weigh the evidence, or “substitute its view of the evidence for that of the jury.” Krechman v. County of Riverside, 723 F.3d 1104, 1110 (9th Cir.2013) (quotation marks omitted). A jury's verdict must be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence. Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, Inc., 743 F.3d 1236, 1242 (9th Cir.2014); Johnson v. Paradise Valley Unified Sch. Dist., 251 F.3d 1222, 1227 (9th Cir.2001). Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as reasonable minds might accept as adequate to support a conclusion[,] even if it is possible to draw two inconsistent conclusions from the evidence.” Weaving, 763 F.3d at 1111 (quotation marks omitted).

C. New Trial

678 The Court “may grant a new trial only if the verdict is contrary to the clear weight of the evidence, is based upon false or perjurious evidence, or to prevent a miscarriage of justice.” Molski v. M.J. Cable, Inc., 481 F.3d 724, 729 (9th Cir.2007) (quotation marks omitted); see also Shimko v. Guenther, 505 F.3d 987, 993 (9th Cir.2007). Unlike a Rule 50 determination, the Court is not required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Experience Hendrix, 762 F.3d at 842. Rather, the Court “can weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of the witnesses.” Id. (citing Kode v. Carlson, 596 F.3d 608, 612 (9th Cir.2010) (per curiam)). A judge should not award a new trial unless he is “left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” France Telecom S.A. v. Marvell Semiconductor Inc., 82 F.Supp.3d 987, 991, 2015 WL 925892, at *1 (N.D.Cal. Mar. 2, 2015) (quoting Landes Constr. Co. v. Royal Bank of Canada, 833 F.2d 1365, 1371–72 (9th Cir.1987)).

DISCUSSION

A. Plaintiff's Motion for Reasonable Expenses, Including Attorneys' Fees

In August 2013, Plaintiff propounded 64 requests for admission (“RFA”) to Defendant in its First Set of Requests for Admissions.

Dkt. 282–6. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a), Defendant responded to these inquiries. Id. Plaintiff contends that Defendant's responses to Plaintiff's RFA nos. 9, 11, 27, 28, 39, 49, and 59 (the “Disputed RFAs”) were improper under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(c)(2), and as a result, Plaintiff expended considerable time and resources during the course of litigation to “prove matters that Victaulic could have and should have admitted.”

The Disputed RFAs requested that Defendant admit the following:

RFA No. 9: Admit that the EPDM used by Victaulic in Victaulic 608 Series valves manufactured between 2000 and 2011 were defective because the EPDM deteriorates and/or degrades when exposed to chloramines.

RFA No. 11: Admit that the Victaulic 608 Series valves containing EPDM that were installed in the Subject Property are defective.

RFA No. 27: Admit that as a consequence of the susceptibility of EPDM contained within the Victaulic 608 Series valves to deteriorate and degrade when exposed to chloramines, the Victaulic 608 Series valves are inherently defective.

RFA No. 28: Admit that the Victaulic Series 608 valves are defective because the EPDM used in those valves deteriorates and/or degrades when exposed to chloramines.

RFA No. 39: Admit that the Victaulic 606 Series couplings containing EPDM installed in the Subject Property are defective.

RFA No. 49: Admit that the deterioration and/or degradation of the EPDM contained within the Victaulic 606 Series couplings becomes progressively worse over time when exposed to chloramines.

RFA No. 59: Admit that as a consequence of the susceptibility of the EPDM contained within the Victaulic 606 Series couplings to deteriorate and degrade when exposed to chloramines, the Victaulic 606 Series couplings are defective.

As to each of the Disputed RFAs, Defendant responded with multiple and lengthy objections, as well as partial admissions or denials. Each of the matters that Plaintiff requested Defendant admit was, however, proved true at trial. Now, in response to the present motion, Defendant argues that Plaintiff should not be...