Alessi Equipment, Inc. v. American Piledriving Equipment, Inc.
- Judith McCarthy
- 7:18-cv-03976
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Alessi Equipment v. American Piledriving, Judge McCarthy ordered Alessi to explain its damages statement or risk losing damage evidence at trial.
Alessi Equipment, Inc. was required to respond by April 21, 2022, concerning whether it should supplement its damages statement or face preclusion of damages evidence at trial. American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. sought that relief so it could prepare its defense.
What happened
Alessi Equipment, Inc. and American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. submitted a joint pretrial order in their case. The order required Alessi to describe the damages it sought, including each part of the damages and how it calculated them.
Alessi said it sought at least $1.4 million for lost sales and rentals, missing discounts, and related equipment and parts damages. American Piledriving argued that this statement did not specify the damages amount, itemize each damages component for each claim, or explain the calculation method.
Judge Judith C. McCarthy ordered Alessi Equipment, Inc. to tell the court by April 21, 2022, why it should not be required to immediately supplement its damages statement or face preclusion—being barred from presenting—evidence about those damages at trial.
The detailed version
- Alessi Equipment, Inc. v. American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. · No. 7:18-cv-03976
- Judith McCarthy
- Apr. 15, 2022
Background
The parties submitted a joint pretrial order on April 4, 2022. That order required Alessi Equipment, Inc. to provide a statement of damages identifying each component or element of damages sought for each claim and explaining the manner and method used to calculate the damages. The opinion references Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(1)(A)(iii) in connection with this requirement.
Alessi stated that it sought damages based on American Piledriving Equipment, Inc.'s alleged failure to direct all sales and rentals of certain excavator-mounted equipment, Alessi's inability to sell or rent that equipment since 2017, and American Piledriving's alleged failure to provide required discounts on equipment and parts. Alessi stated that the damages would be determined at trial but would be no less than $1.4 million. It identified discounts, markups, lost sales, rentals, and equipment and parts as the bases for the damages.
Parties' Positions
American Piledriving objected that Alessi had not specified the amount of damages sought, itemized each damages component for each claim, or explained how it calculated the claimed damages. American Piledriving asked the court to require Alessi to promptly supplement its statement so that it would have notice of the claimed damages and could prepare its trial defense. It alternatively asked that Alessi be precluded from introducing evidence of its alleged damages at trial.
Court's Action
The court ordered Alessi to advise the court by April 21, 2022, why it should not immediately order Alessi to supplement its damages statement on the grounds raised by American Piledriving or require preclusion of evidence relating to those damages at trial. The order did not itself state that Alessi was precluded from presenting damages evidence or that Alessi had to supplement the statement immediately; it required Alessi to explain why those measures should not be imposed. Judge McCarthy cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a) and (e), along with several decisions concerning incomplete damages disclosures. This was a procedural order concerning pretrial damages disclosure, not a decision on the parties' underlying claims or the amount of damages.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.