Boyd v. Wilmington Trust Co.

• Decision Date: 24 June 2009
• Docket Number: Civ. Action No. 07-376-JJF.
• Citation: 630 F.Supp.2d 379
• Parties: William BOYD, Plaintiff, v. WILMINGTON TRUST CO., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

Page 379

630 F.Supp.2d 379

William BOYD, Plaintiff, v. WILMINGTON TRUST CO., Defendant.

Civ. Action No. 07-376-JJF.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

June 24, 2009.

William Boyd, Newark, DE, Pro se Plaintiff.

Barry M. Willoughby and Pilar Gabrielle Kraman, Esquires, Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, Wilmington, DE, Attorneys for Defendant.

OPINION

FARNAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff William Boyd ("Plaintiff") filed this Complaint on June 12, 2007. (D.I. 2.) He proceeds pro se and has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. (D.I. 4.) Presently before the Court are several pending Motions including Plaintiff's Motions to Compel, Defendant Wilmington Trust Co.'s ("Defendant") Motion For Summary Judgment, and Plaintiff's Motion For Reconsideration And To Amend, Responses and Replies. (D.I. 31, 32, 33, 36, 43, 46.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court will grant Defendant's Motion For Summary Judgment and will deny the remaining Motions.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Boyd filed this action on May 2, 2007. (D.I. 2.) The Complaint alleges as follows: Defendant discriminated against Plaintiff on June 13, 2006, when it allowed John Boyd ("J. Boyd"), Plaintiff's brother, to open an account for B & R ("B & R")¹ of which Plaintiff was unaware, but for which he had liability and responsibility. (Id.) J. Boyd deposited checks into the B & R account and sold B & R for four million dollars. Defendant closed the account without telling Plaintiff. J. Boyd deposited checks made out to Plaintiff's company, Allstaff, Inc. ("Allstaff"), into J. Boyd's account. Plaintiff voiced his suspicions to Defendant, but was told it could not do anything. The Complaint does not indicate under which statute Plaintiff proceeds.

Plaintiff testified that between 1994 and 1997, he owned B & R, Inc., a temporary employment agency, and had opened a checking account for the company.² (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 39, 65.) J. Boyd did not have check signing authority for B & R. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 38.) The bank account names the company as B & R Employment. (Id. at 65.) Defendant could find no records for an entity named B & R, Inc. (D.I. 36, answer 1.) Plaintiff testified that B & R, Inc. and B & R Employment are the same company. (D.I. 44, ex. at 65.) The testimony of J. Boyd is not clear, but seems to indicate that B & R Employment and B & R, Inc. are two separate companies. (D.I. 44, ex. 3 at 10.)

Bank records for B & R Employment provide the same address as that of its current registered agent, J. Boyd. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 66; D.I. 45. ex. 3.) Plaintiff testified that the address belongs to J. Boyd and that he must have changed the address since the company started out at 118 South Maryland Avenue.³ (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 66.)

On January 1, 1997, Plaintiff, who owned one hundred percent of its outstanding shares, sold all the stock in B & R Employment, Inc. to J. Boyd. (D.I. 44, ex. 1, at 35; ex. 2.) The sale included Plaintiff's clients. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 35.) Plaintiff testified that when he sold B & R to his brother, he thought that was the end of B & R. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 35.) After J. Boyd purchased B & R, Plaintiff had no further responsibilities with the company and was not employed by it. (D.I. 47, ex. 4 at 12.)

J. Boyd explained that when he purchased B & R Employment, he also owned Action Employment and B & R, Inc. and he was selling the companies. (D.I. 44, ex. 3 at 10.) B & R Employment acquired all the debt, B & R, Inc. had all the assets, and J. Boyd rolled the companies into Stratus Services and went onto the small-cap NASDAQ. (D.I. 44, ex. 3 at 10; D.I. 47, ex. 4 at 12.) This occurred in 1997. Plaintiff was aware that the sale occurred and thought that J. Boyd was buying Plaintiff's clients, turning them into J. Boyd's clients, and selling the company to Stratus. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 43.)

J. Boyd never opened a bank account for B & R, and did not know if he changed the signature card at the bank. (D.I. 44, ex. 1, at 35; ex. 3 at 10.) Apparently, the account was left open after the sale, but at some point in time it was "shut down." (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 40, 42.) Plaintiff did not receive any bank statements related to B & R between 1997 and 2005. (Id. at 42-43.) B & R Employment, Inc. was dissolved as a corporation on October 29, 2005. (D.I. 47, ex. 2.) The dissolution states that its President is J. Boyd. (Id.)

In 2003 or 2004, J. Boyd worked for Plaintiff's company, Allstaff, a temporary agency.⁴ According to J. Boyd, he entered into an oral agreement with Plaintiff to purchase Allstaff, but after J. Boyd built up the business, Plaintiff reneged on the agreement. (D.I. 47, ex. 4 at 16-17, 23.) During the time that J. Boyd worked for Allstaff, Plaintiff saw some documents that caused him to ask J. Boyd "what [was] going on with B & R," but J. Boyd did not give him a "straight answer." (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 43, 45.) Thereafter, Plaintiff conducted an investigation regarding B & R and Allstaff, spoke to his accountant, and made inquiries at the bank. (Id. at 44-45.) According to Plaintiff, J. Boyd solicited Plaintiff's Allstaff clients, and told them that if payment was made within a week, their would either receive a reduced price or the clients would pay J. Boyd directly. (Id. at 45) Plaintiff believes that J. Boyd was depositing Allstaff checks into the B & R account. (Id. at 63.)

During his deposition Plaintiff testified that although the Complaint alleges that Defendant violated his civil rights, and he felt that he was violated, he did not know what is meant by "civil rights" and that the "main big picture is antitrust."⁵ (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 30-31.) Plaintiff testified that his claim against Defendant is an antitrust claim based upon the sale of B & R executed through bank fraud, embezzlement, and extortion. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 64-65.) Plaintiff listed statutes under Titles 12, 15, and 18 of the United States Code on the civil cover sheet because they included violations of antitrust acts and had "clips of bank fraud, embezzlement, [and] extortion." (Id. at 31.) Plaintiff testified that Defendant is in the "conspirators circle" with Jack Boyd, Krista Garrettson, Robin Rizzo, Harry Morris, TemPay, Ted Nannas, and Insurance and Financial Services and he believes that they devised a plan to prevent temporary employment agencies from operating in Delaware.⁶ (Id. at 106-107.) He also believes that Defendant has something to do with Allstaff and B & R's ability to compete in a horizontal market.⁷ (Id.)

Plaintiff testified that the antitrust action started prior to the sale of B & R to J. Boyd. (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 34.) He testified that Defendant's involvement in the claim began when J. Boyd began bringing B & R checks to Defendant and cashing them. (Id. at 34.) Plaintiff believes that there "had to be some kind of agreement that allowed J. Boyd to sell assets in Plaintiff's company's name" and to turn four million dollars (i.e., the purchase price of J. Boyd's company) into his with no financial responsibility for taxes or the money (D.I. 44, ex. 1 at 34-38.)

At no time did Plaintiff move to amend the Complaint. The discovery deadline expired on February 27, 2009 and the case dispositive motion deadline expired on March 31, 2009. (D.I. 14, 29.) On March 31, 2009, Defendant filed a Motion For Summary Judgment on the grounds that Plaintiff lacks standing to seek relief, and, as a matter of law, cannot prove violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. (D.I. 43, 44.) Plaintiff filed a Motion To Amend the Complaint subsequent to Defendant's filing its Motion For Summary Judgment. (D.I. 46.) Plaintiff opposes the Motion and responds that because he proceeds pro se, he has had difficulty in his discovery efforts. He contends that he opened and owned B & R, is its only president, is the only legal officer of B & R, and the only signatory on the B & R account.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Court may grant summary judgment only if "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). The moving party bears the burden of proving that no genuine issue of material fact exists. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 n. 10, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).

When determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable inferences in that party's favor. Wishkin v. Potter, 476 F.3d 180, 184 (3d Cir.2007). "Facts that could alter the outcome are `material,' and disputes are `genuine' if evidence exists from which a rational person could conclude that the position of the person with the burden of proof on the disputed issue is correct." Horowitz v. Federal Kemper Life Assurance Co., 57 F.3d 300, 302 n. 1 (3d Cir. 1995) (internal citations omitted).

If the moving party has demonstrated an absence of material fact, the nonmoving party then "must come forward with `specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 475 U.S. at 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). If the nonmoving party fails to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of its case with respect to which it has the burden of proof, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

III. DISCUSSION

The Court is troubled by the fact that the allegations in the Complaint differ considerably from Plaintiff's testimony of what he considers his claims are against Defendant. Plaintiff concedes this is not a discrimination case and testified that portions of the allegations in the Complaint are untrue. Indeed, it is clear from his deposition...