ERIC N. VITALIANO, District Judge.
Plaintiff Sentry Insurance ("Sentry") commenced two separate actions arising
What started as a disagreement over workers' compensation insurance contracts has denigrated into a war of attrition over discovery matters. At bottom, as explained further below, there can be no real dispute that Brand and Budget breached their contract with Sentry. Nor are there any facts properly before the Court that can refute plaintiff's alter ego liability theory. Simply, as a matter of law, Brand and Budget are alter egos of Weber, who is, therefore, liable for Brand's breach of contract. Consequently, plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment must be granted, and the cross-motion of Budget and Weber denied.
Pressing a basic breach of contract claim as its core grievance, Sentry, on January 27, 2010, sued Brand. (Compl., ECF No. 1, at ¶¶ 5-6).
With gratitude for the able pre-trial management of Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann, the parties were able to emerge from discovery and proceed to motions seeking partial summary judgment. The course of discovery, however, was more than difficult. It was marred by the strategy and guile of defendants, who engaged in conduct that can best be described as recalcitrant and sanctionable. After systematically ratcheting up discovery orders and sanctions, finally, Magistrate Judge Mann issued a Report and Recommendation ("R & R"), on February 7, 2013, which recommended that the Court impose a still harsher sanction: precluding defendants from presenting evidence in opposition to plaintiff's alter ego claim. (R & R, ECF No. 179). On October 21, 2013, the Court agreed, adopting the R & R in full, which
Following the close of the cantankerous discovery phase of the litigation, on May 30, 2014, plaintiff filed the instant motion for summary judgment, (Pl.'s Mot., ECF No. 223), which has drawn a cross-motion for summary judgment by Budget and Weber. (Defs.' Mot., ECF No. 225). Trading legal salvos, the parties first war over what facts the Court may rely upon to decide these motions. From one trench, Sentry objects to affidavits, (Weber Decl., ECF No. 225-2; Rosenfeld Decl., ECF No. 225-4), Budget and Weber submitted in opposition to Sentry's motion, arguing that they are proffered in clear contravention of the Court's October 21, 2013 Order.
First and foremost, despite their legal flailings, Budget and Weber cannot wriggle away from the devastating impact of the Order barring their opposition to Sentry's alter ego theory of liability. See In re Goldstein, 430 F.3d 106, 110 (2d Cir. 2005). Those declarations will not be considered. As for Budget and Weber's objection to Sentry's use of particular depositions,
Weber is the president of Spring Services, through which he "take[s] care of a whole bunch of corporations," (the "Weber entities"). (Weber Dep. ("WD1"), ECF No. 226, Ex. 9, at 6:12-14). As Weber puts it, these constituent entities "pay Spring Services and Spring Services pay[s] me." (Id.). Most of the Weber entities are "professional employment organizations" ("PEOs"), which provide employee leasing
Budget and Brand are PEOs. They are located at the shared South Eight Street office. (S at ¶¶ 1-2, 16; WD1 at 16:14-17). Like the other Weber entities, Brand and Budget are owned and operated by Weber. He is the controlling shareholder,
Weber admits that, on numerous occasions, he transferred funds among the Weber entities. He claims the transfers were "loans" that bore no interest. (Defs.' Br., ECF No. 225-6, at 14). Describing the dealings further, Weber says that whenever one of his entities "need[ed] money," one of these loans would be made. (S at ¶¶ 20-21; Budget Admis., ECF No. 226, Ex. 3, at 17, 19; WD1 at 74:2-5). Further, evidencing the seamlessness of the commingling of funds, the so-called loans were not memorialized in corporate resolutions or ever reduced to written loan agreements.
Weber, apparently, also personally entered into similar loan transactions to and from Budget and Brand without any corporate resolutions or written loan agreements. (S at ¶¶ 30-31). On one occasion, Weber loaned $749,333 from his personal account to Brand so that it could pay for workers' compensation insurance. (Id. at ¶ 32; WD1 at 91:14-18). Weber used personal checks for business purposes if one of his businesses lacked funds. (S at ¶ 33; WD1 at 130:22-131:15). He also kept Brand's checkbook at home and managed to repay himself for loans made out of his personal funds. (S at ¶¶ 34-37; WD1 at 42:8-15, 96:8-99:14; Weber Dep. ("WD2"), ECF No. 223-3, Ex. F, at 103:5-16). From January 2007 to October 2010, Budget made eight loans to Weber that, combined, exceeded $157,000. (S at ¶ 38; Budget Admis., ECF No. 226, Ex. 3, at ¶ 19). Even Naftoly received loans from Budget in 2009 and 2010, but Weber cannot specify what the loans were for. (S at ¶¶ 50-51; Budget Admis., ECF No. 226, Ex. 3, at ¶ 20; WD1 at 43:16-20). Money moved back and forth among Weber, his son, and his businesses like a tennis ball does at Wimbledon.
With Weber's corporate infidelities as a backdrop, the dispute on center court arises out of two workers' compensation and employer's liability insurance policies (the "workers' compensation policies") purchased from Sentry by Budget and Brand, which were effective for a one-year period beginning September 30, 2008. (S at ¶¶ 13, 56, 62-65; Am. Compl., ECF No. 7-2, Ex. A). The workers' compensation policies listed a number of Weber's PEOs as insureds and additional insureds, including Budget. (S at ¶¶ 14, 61). Beyond that coverage, on or about October 28, 2008, Budget, Brand, and Sentry entered into a casualty insurance agreement in which Budget and Brand agreed to reimburse Sentry for any costs and expenses incurred by Sentry under the workers' compensation policies if Budget and Brand's deductible was not paid within 20 days of the end of each calendar month. (S at ¶¶ 57-59; Am. Compl., ECF No. 7-3, Ex. B). To pay the premiums on the workers' compensation policies, Budget and the Weber entities would submit checks to Brand, which would, in turn, submit the payments to Sentry. (S at ¶¶ 62, 64; WD1 at 31:8-11; WD2 at 104:7-19).
The workers' compensation policies had high-deductibles but low premiums, meaning, practically, that Budget and Brand accepted nearly all the risk. (S at ¶ 55; Halberstam Dep. ("HD"), ECF No. 226, Ex. 11, at 49:24-50:10). Under the agreement, Brand and Budget were required to pay a "recoverable deductible" of $1 million per claim with Sentry advancing payments on claims and billing Budget and Brand for any payments advanced by Sentry when payouts did not exceed $1 million. (S at 68; Am. Compl., ECF No. 7-2, Ex. A-B; HD at 42:16-43:13). Brand's risk manager, Leib Halberstam, said he believed, despite the high assumption of risk, that Brand could limit its liability by aggressively challenging workers' compensation claims. (S at ¶¶ 53-54; HD at 49:14-50:22). Because no claim ever exceeded $1 million, Budget and Brand were obligated to repay all claims, costs, and reserves under these policies. (S at ¶ 68; HD at 43:10-13). To ensure a current and accurate accounting of their mutual obligations, Sentry provided Brand with monthly invoices, which detailed individual claim information as well as any amounts owed to Sentry. (S at ¶ 84; Harris Decl., ECF No. 223-3, Ex. K, L, M, S). In the meantime, of course, the arrangement securing Sentry's interface in the process satisfied Brand's obligation as an employer
In September 2009, when the workers' compensation policies were set to expire, Brand, which had an obligation to pay premiums for both itself and Budget, abruptly stopped paying Sentry. Sentry interpreted the failure to pay premiums as a default under the casualty agreement.
The malarkey did not stop there. As Sentry sought compensation through the courts, on July 20, 2011, Brand filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition seeking Chapter 11 reorganization. According to Weber, Brand declared bankruptcy because Sentry had filed suit. (S at ¶ 85; Bankr.Proceeding, 11-bk-46230, ECF No. 33-2, at 40:39:5-40:23). In bankruptcy court, as the parties recall, it was found that Brand was "purposefully ... undercapitalized," and was undisputed that Brand owed Sentry several million dollars. (S at ¶ 87; Bankr. Proceeding per Rosenthal, J., ECF No. 226, Ex. 33, at 12:24-13:2, 23:11-20). Even after the initiation of the Budget action, on August 17, 2011, for the same breach of the casualty agreement, Sentry continued to pay claims under the workers' compensation policies, (Erler Aff.,
Rule 56(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a district court may grant summary judgment when the "movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." The movant bears the burden of "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." James River Ins. Co. v. Power Mgmt., Inc., 55 F.Supp.3d 446, 453 (E.D.N.Y.2014) (quoting Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). "A fact is material if it might affect the out-come of the suit under the governing law, and an issue of fact is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Reeves v. Anderson, No. 11-CV-3770, 2014 WL 7336459, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 24, 2014) (citing Windsor v. United States, 699 F.3d 169, 192 (2d Cir.2012)). "In determining if a genuine dispute of material fact exists, `the court must resolve all ambiguities and draw all justifiable factual inferences in favor of the party against whom summary judgment is sought.'" Fletcher v. Standard Fire Ins. Co., 80 F.Supp.3d 386, 390 (E.D.N.Y.2015) (quoting Buckley v. Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, 888 F.Supp.2d 404, 415 (S.D.N.Y.2012), aff'd, 541 Fed.Appx. 62 (2d Cir.2013)). "Where, as here, both parties move for summary judgment, `each party's motion must be examined on its own merits, and in each case all reasonable inferences must be drawn against the party whose motion is under consideration.'" Gen. Star Indem. Co. v. Driven Sports, Inc., 80 F.Supp.3d 442, 449 (E.D.N.Y.2015) (quoting Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. RGIS Inventory Specialists, LLC, 628 F.3d 46, 51 (2d Cir.2010)).
In opposing a motion for summary judgment, "it is insufficient for [the nonmoving party] ... `merely to assert a conclusion without supplying supporting arguments or facts.'" Id. (quoting BellSouth Telecomms., Inc. v. W.R. Grace & Co., 77 F.3d 603, 615 (2d Cir.1996)). "Once the moving party has met its burden, the opposing party `must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts .... [T]he nonmoving party must come forward with specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Id. (emphasis in original) (quoting Caldarola v. Calabrese, 298 F.3d 156, 160 (2d Cir.2002) (quoting Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986))). "Where it is clear that no rational finder of fact `could find in favor of the nonmoving party because the evidence to support its case is so slight,' summary judgment should be granted." F.D.I.C. v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 607 F.3d 288, 292 (2d Cir.2010) (quoting Gallo v. Prudential Residential Servs., Ltd. P'ship, 22 F.3d 1219, 1224 (2d Cir.1994)).
To succeed on a breach of contract claim, a plaintiff must show: "`(1) the existence of an agreement; (2) adequate performance of the contract by the plaintiff; (3) breach of contract by the defendant;
Because the parties do not dispute the existence of the contracts, Sentry's performance under the contracts, and the breach of those contracts, Sentry's motion for partial summary judgment as to Brand and Budget's breach of contract is granted. Damages remain as the only open issue, which includes defendants' objections as to Sentry's billed invoices.
The far more contentious matter is whether Weber, personally, should be held responsible for Brand and Budget's breach of contract liability to Sentry. (Pl.'s Br., ECF No. 223-1, at 16). Sentry alleges that Weber, through his complete domination of their activities, ran Budget, Brand, and the other Weber entities as an extension of himself in a common business enterprise. Sentry rests heavily on compelling evidence showing that the Weber entities utterly failed to maintain "even the most basic formalities," and that, firmly under Weber's thumb, those entities effectively and undeniably were Weber's alter egos. (Id. at 18-20). Sentry, for support, cites Brand and Budget's lack of corporate minutes, Weber's unilateral control over the flow of money among the Weber entities and himself, the absence of legitimate annual meetings, the common office space, and the inadequate capitalization of either Brand or Budget. (Id. at 18-21). Plaintiff also maintains that Weber committed a "fraud or wrong" by diverting funds away from Brand in order to render it "judgment proof." (Id. at 22-23).
Weber and Budget label Sentry's alter ego assertions "purely conclusory," and contend that Sentry has failed to sufficiently plead (much less prove) a valid cause of action to pierce the corporate veil or to impose alter ego liability. (Defs.' Br., ECF No. 225-6, at 3-4). Specifically, they argue that Sentry has failed to particularly plead "that Weber was using the corporate entities to advance his own rather than corporate ends." (Id. at 4, 12).
Certainly not in dispute is the law that a parent company, or an owner, may "be held liable for the acts of its subsidiary when the subsidiary is merely an alter ego of the parent." Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petr. Co., 621 F.3d 111, 195 (2d Cir.2010). As the Second Circuit has explained:
Id. (quoting Gartner v. Snyder, 607 F.2d 582, 586 (2d Cir.1979)). Under New York law, a party seeking to pierce the corporate veil, and thereby hold another entity or individual liable, "must show: (1) the alleged alter ego `exercised complete domination over the corporation with respect to the transaction at issue; and (2) such domination was used to commit a fraud or wrong that injured the party seeking to pierce the corporate veil.'" Liberty Synergistics, Inc. v. Mircroflo Ltd., 50 F.Supp.3d 267, 296 (E.D.N.Y.2014) (quoting MAG Portfolio Consultant, GMBH v. Merlin Biomed Grp., LLC, 268 F.3d 58, 63 (2d Cir.2001)).
To determine whether the first requirement, domination, has been met, the following ten equitable factors must be considered:
Id. at 296-97 (quoting JSC Foreign Econ. Ass'n Technostroyexport v. Int'l Dev. & Trade Servs., Inc., 386 F.Supp.2d 461, 464-65 (S.D.N.Y.2005) (quoting Wm. Passalacqua Builders, Inc. v. Resnick, 933 F.2d 131, 139 (2d Cir.1991))).
Assuming domination can be established, to recover, a plaintiff must then show "(1) `the existence of a wrongful or unjust act toward that party,' and (2) that `the act caused the party's harm.'" Id. at 297 (quoting JSC Foreign Econ. Ass'n Technostroyexport, 386 F.Supp.2d at 465). There can be no recovery without establishing "that the owners of the corporation, through their dominance of the corporation, `abused the privilege of doing business in the corporate form to perpetrate a wrong or injustice against [the complainant contracting] party such that a court in equity will intervene.'" Id. (citations omitted). For instance, "`[t]he stripping of corporate assets by shareholders to render the corporation judgment proof constitutes a fraud or wrong justifying piercing the corporate veil.'" American Federated Title Corp. v. GFI Mgmt. Servs., Inc., 39 F.Supp.3d 516, 527 (S.D.N.Y.2014) (quoting Godwin Realty Assocs. v. CATV Enter., Inc., 275 A.D.2d 269, 270, 712 N.Y.S.2d 39 (1st Dep't 2000)).
On the presented facts in this case, equity demands judicial intervention. Defendants' discovery stonewall cannot hide the reality that Sentry sufficiently particularized its alter ego allegations, as required by Rule 9(b). See United Feature Synd., Inc. v. Miller Features Synd., Inc., 216 F.Supp.2d 198, 224 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). Sentry's complaint against Budget and Weber, for example, sets forth Weber's domination over Brand and the other entities, including details of Brand's bankruptcy proceeding, orchestrated by Weber, at which it was noted that Brand was undercapitalized and that dismissal of the
Not only is the pleading of the claim sufficient to state the alter ego claim; so is the admissible proof sufficient to establish it. Budget and Weber rely on Feitshans v. Kahn, No. 06-CV-2125, 2007 WL 2438411, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2007), to argue against domination by Weber. (Defs.' Br., ECF No. 225-6, at 14-15). Feitshans held that summary judgment was inappropriate because several factors demonstrated a genuine issue of material fact regarding domination: (1) the defendant entities were legally-formed, had numerous salaried employees, and had separate bank accounts, books, records, filings, and operating expenses (paid independently); (2) they pursued separate corporate business operations; (3) they merely shared overlapping administrative costs; and (4) there were questions as to the nature of the funds loaned between the entities, including whether any were made at arm's length. Id.
While highlighting elements of potential factual dispute, defendants omitted, from their thumbnail review, the critical guidance from the Feitshans court — that "the overlap In ownership ..., the [entities'] dependence on the [individual owner] for operating funds, [and] the bare adherence to corporate formalities" each "strongly suggest[ed] domination." Id. Here, the admissible, uncontradicted proof shows that there was clear overlap in ownership of all the Weber entities; Weber was the sole or primary shareholder of each of them and the crucial source of the overlapping leadership, by his own admission, as president for each of them. (WD1 at 6:12-14). Eschewing corporate-minute taking, regular board meetings, annual shareholder meetings, and a host of practices indicative of business Independence, corporate formalities were, manifestly, not recognized. Bluntly, the boundaries among entities or between entities and Weber's personal pockets were disregarded repeatedly and, without doubt, disregarded whenever Weber, as the overlord, felt they were inconvenient. (WD1 at 74:2-5, 87:9-93:3, 130:22-131:15; Weber Aff., ECF No. 226, Ex. 12, at ¶ 3). The interdependence of the Weber entities and the dependence of the entire enterprise on Weber personally is unmistakable. (WD1 at 74:2-5, 87:9-93:3, 130:22-131:15). Domination of Brand and Budget by Weber being total and complete is what the admissible proof shows. There is no genuine dispute of fact.
Second, unlike in Feitshans, the Weber entities do not have separate operating expenses, the flow of funds between the constituent parts of Weber's enterprise was not the result of arm's length transactions, and those parts clearly did not operate as independent profit centers. Weber admitted that all the Weber Entities conducted business from his South Eighth Street office and that the office expenses and employee salaries were covered by Spring Services, the command module for the Weber entities. (WD1 at 15:11-16:17, 18:6-8, 20:4-12). Weber had sole discretion over the flow of funds that coursed through Brand, Budget, and the other constituent parts of the greater business enterprise. (Budget Admis., ECF No. 226, Ex. 3, at ¶¶ 17-19; WD1 at 71:25-72:18). In the real world of the Weber business scheme, none of Weber's businesses were actually discrete profit centers — they were all PEOs "doing the same thing," and only existed as separate entities to "make[] the bookkeeping system easier." (WD1 at 13:4-8). In that reality, there was only
Finally and significantly, there is no genuine dispute about the fact that Weber committed a "wrong," which harmed Sentry. See American Federated Title Corp., 39 F.Supp.3d at 527 (holding that "stripping" entities "through transfers, management fees, and expense payments ... that were effected by [d]efendants' domination... [was] sufficient to pierce the corporate veil"). He committed that wrong by keeping Brand undercapitalized to avoid its claims. The record evidence shows that, between 2008 and 2009, Brand slowed or stopped collecting accounts receivable. (2008 A/R Aging Summary, ECF No. 226, Ex. 24; 2009 A/R Aging Summary, ECF No. 226, Ex. 25). In September 2009, in a transparent parallel move, while Brand simply did not collect the millions owed to it, it also ceased paying Sentry's invoices. (S at ¶¶ 72-73; WD2 at 26:20-27:5). Then, as Sentry filed suit against Brand for breach of the casualty agreement, Weber suddenly "deactivated" Budget. (Schwarzbaum Aff., ECF No. 226, at ¶¶ 92-95; RD2 at 128:7-129:24). The flim flam involving Brand and Budget did not go unobserved by neutrals. The bankruptcy court handling Brand's Chapter 11 filing was onto it almost immediately. In dismissing the case, the court found that Brand was merely a "pass through entity," and noted, pointedly, that Brand did not have "any significant working capital" because Weber was "purposely keeping this company undercapitalized [; Brand] lost millions of dollars, at least on paper, and they did not capitalize[] and they put everybody in jeopardy." (Bankr.Proceeding per Rosenthal, J., ECF No. 226, Ex. 33, at 11:12-12:1, 23:5-14). These hide-and-seek manipulations were made at Weber's direction while, as defense counsel stated, "there's no question that Sentry's claim for several million dollars is valid." (Id. at 13:1-18). With no material facts in dispute, it is clear that Weber, as their alter ego, is liable to Sentry for breach of contract to the same extent that Brand and Budget are.
Specifically, in recapitulation, after weighing the Passalacqua factors, the Court concludes that Weber is the alter ego of Brand and Budget as a matter of law. Weber, without a doubt, dominated Brand and Budget, in that Weber's manipulation of his business empire perpetrated a wrong by essentially denuding Brand and Budget to render them judgment proof, which has caused Sentry harm. Since the record on summary judgment is devoid of any admissible proof that would create a material dispute of fact barring that conclusion, partial summary judgment as to liability is mandated.
For the foregoing reasons, plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment on its claims for breach of contract against Brand and Budget, as well as its claim of breach against Weber, on a theory of alter ego liability, is granted. Defendants'
So Ordered.
Neither Budget nor Brand ever raised any challenge to Sentry's billing. (S. at ¶¶ 70-71).