Schiff v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc.

• Decision Date: 10 March 2000
• Docket Number: No. C-3-98-265.,C-3-98-265.
• Citation: 102 F.Supp.2d 891
• Parties: Nathan SCHIFF, Plaintiff, v. MAZDA MOTOR OF AMERICA, INC., et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio

102 F.Supp.2d 891

Nathan SCHIFF, Plaintiff, v. MAZDA MOTOR OF AMERICA, INC., et al., Defendants.

No. C-3-98-265.

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Western Division.

March 10, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ronald Lee Burge, Burdge Law Office, Dayton, OH, for Nathan Schiff.

Barbara Jo Arison, thompson Hine & Flory, cleveland, OH, for Mazda Motor of America, Inc., Mazda American Credit.

DECISION AND ENTRY SUSTAINING IN PART AND OVERRULING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (DOC. # 22); DECISION AND ENTRY OVERRULING, AS MOOT IN PART, AND OVERRULING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO STRIKE (DOC. # 28); FURTHER PROCEDURES ESTABLISHED

RICE, Chief Judge.

In May, 1994, the Plaintiff leased a Mazda Miata from Arnold Automotive, Ltd. ("Arnold"), an automobile dealer located in the state of Michigan.¹ After the vehicle lease agreement ("Lease") had been executed by the Plaintiff and Arnold, it was assigned to Defendant Mazda American Credit ("Credit").² As a consequence, Plaintiff made his payments under the Lease to Credit. When he entered into the Lease, the Plaintiff was a resident of Michigan. However, in September, 1996, approximately nine months before the expiration of the Lease, he moved to Ohio.

The Lease was for a term of 36 months, and was scheduled to expire at the end of May, 1997. However, a provision in that document permitted the Plaintiff to purchase the Mazda Miata for the sum of $13,340.70. In the spring of 1997, as the end of the Lease approached, Arnold informed the Plaintiff that to purchase the automobile, he would have to pay Arnold $100.00, as a documentation fee, above the amount set forth in the Lease. He was also informed that he could close the purchase at another Mazda dealer, since he was now living more than 100 miles from Arnold. The Plaintiff contacted a number of other Mazda dealers in Ohio, and discovered that they would charge between $200.00 and $350.00 to close the purchase.³ Although he was not pleased with having to pay an additional $100.00 to exercise his contractual right to purchase the Mazda Miata, the Plaintiff decided to go forward with the transaction. To accomplish that goal, he arranged financing from National City Bank. Arnold sent the closing papers to that financial institution; however, the Plaintiff declined to close the transaction, because the additional $100.00, which he was being required to pay, was included as part of the purchase price of the vehicle, rather than being listed on a separate line as a documentation fee.

Even though the Plaintiff had not purchased the vehicle, he did not surrender possession of it. Rather, for approximately two weeks after the Lease had expired, the Plaintiff continued to retain possession of the Mazda Miata, without making any additional payment to Credit. Consequently, on June 12, 1997, Credit repossessed that vehicle and, subsequently, sold it at auction for $12,000.00.

The Plaintiff brought this litigation in the Court of Common Pleas for Montgomery County, Ohio, against Credit and Mazda Motor of America, Inc. The Defendants timely removed this action to this Court on the basis of diversity of citizenship. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332. In his Complaint, the Plaintiff has set forth five claims, the first and fifth of which are asserted against both Defendants, while the other three are against Credit alone. In his First Claim for Relief, the Plaintiff alleges that both Defendants violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act ("OCSPA"), Chapter 1345 of the Ohio Revised Code, by refusing to permit him to purchase the vehicle for the price set forth in the Lease. In his Second Claim for Relief, the Plaintiff sets forth a common law claim of breach of contract, alleging that Credit breached the Lease by not permitting him to purchase the vehicle for the amount set forth in that document. In his Third Claim for Relief, Plaintiff sets forth a common law claim of fraud, alleging that Credit misrepresented that he would not be required to pay more to purchase the automobile than the amount set forth in the Lease. With his Fourth Claim for Relief, Plaintiff sets forth a common law claim of conversion against Credit, alleging that it converted the Mazda Miata when it repossessed that vehicle. In his Fifth Claim for Relief, the Plaintiff has set forth another claim under the OCSPA against both Defendants, alleging that they acted in concert and violated that statute, by requiring consumers to purchase their leased vehicles from a Mazda dealer, thus affording such dealers the opportunity to sell consumers additional or different automobiles. With each of his five claims, the Plaintiff asserts that he has suffered actual damages in the amount of $20,523.45, which is alleged to represent the loss of the value of the automobile. In addition, the Plaintiff seeks to recover punitive damages in the sum of $2,000,000.00, as well as treble damages, statutory damages, attorney's fees and costs.

This case is now before the Court on the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 22).⁴ As a means of analysis, the Court will initially set forth the standards which are applicable to all motions for summary judgment, following which it will turn to the arguments of the parties in support of and in opposition to the instant such motion.

Summary judgment must be entered "against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Of course, the moving party:

always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any," which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. See also Boretti v. Wiscomb, 930 F.2d 1150, 1156 (6th Cir. 1991) (The moving party has the "burden of showing that the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions and affidavits in the record, construed favorably to the nonmoving party, do not raise a genuine issue of material fact for trial.") (quoting Gutierrez v. Lynch, 826 F.2d 1534, 1536 (6th Cir.1987)). The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party who "must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). Thus, "[o]nce the moving party has met its initial burden, the nonmoving party must present evidence that creates a genuine issue of material fact making it necessary to resolve the difference at trial." Talley v. Bravo Pitino Restaurant, Ltd., 61 F.3d 1241, 1245 (6th Cir.1995). Read together, Liberty Lobby and Celotex stand for the proposition that a party may move for summary judgment by demonstrating that the opposing party will not be able to produce sufficient evidence at trial to withstand a directed verdict motion (now known as a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50). Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1478 (6th Cir.1989).

Once the burden of production has so shifted, the party opposing summary judgment cannot rest on its pleadings or merely reassert its previous allegations. It is not sufficient to "simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). See also Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, Inc. v. Babin, 18 F.3d 337, 341 (6th Cir.1994) ("The plaintiff must present more than a scintilla of evidence in support of his position; the evidence must be such that a jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff."). Rather, Rule 56(e) "requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the [unverified] pleadings" and present some type of evidentiary material in support of its position. Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show 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). Summary judgment shall be denied "[i]f there are ... `genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party.'" Hancock v. Dodson, 958 F.2d 1367, 1374 (6th Cir.1992) (citation omitted). Of course, in determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, a court must assume as true the evidence of the nonmoving party and draw all reasonable inferences in the favor of that party. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (emphasis added). If the parties present conflicting evidence, a court may not decide which evidence to believe, by determining which parties' affiants are more credible; rather, credibility determinations must be left to the fact-finder. 10A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 2726. In ruling on a motion for summary judgment (in other words, in determining whether there is a genuine issue of material fact), "[a] district court is not ... obligated to wade through and search the entire record for some specific facts that might support the nonmoving party's claim." InterRoyal Corp. v. Sponseller, 889 F.2d 108, 111 (6th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1091, 110 S.Ct. 1839, 108 L.Ed.2d 967 (1990). See also L.S. Heath & Son, Inc. v. AT & T Information Systems, Inc., 9 F.3d 561 (7th Cir.1993); Skotak v. Tenneco Resins, Inc., 953 F.2d 909, 915 n. 7 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 832, 113 S.Ct. 98, 121 L.Ed.2d 59 (1992) ("...