Vista Food Exchange, Inc. v. Lawson Foods, LLC

Background

On April 3, 2023, the Clerk entered judgment in favor of Vista Food Exchange, Inc. against Lawson Foods, LLC, for $3,133,627.31. Vista then moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) to alter or amend the judgment so that it would be entered against Lawson Foods, LLC, Simon Law, and Fortress Foods jointly and severally. Joint and several liability means each listed party may be held responsible for the entire amount.

The court had previously adopted Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn’s recommendation that Lawson, Simon Law, and Fortress Foods be jointly and severally liable for $2,258,537. The court’s amended order, however, specifically found Lawson Foods, LLC liable for $2,258,537 and did not include Simon Law and Fortress Foods. The court stated that the record showed it intended to adopt Judge Netburn’s recommendation in full and that omitting Simon Law and Fortress Foods was an error.

Contempt Award

Vista also sought to amend the judgment to enforce a separate November 2019 contempt award. That award required Lawson Foods, LLC, Simon Law, and Fortress Foods to pay Vista $392,376 jointly and severally, consisting of $314,576 in attorney fees and $77,800 in accumulated daily contempt fines. The court stated that the defendants had not fully complied with that order and that amending the judgment was necessary to correct an error and prevent an unfair result.

Rule 59(e) Standard

The court held that Vista’s motion was timely because Rule 59(e) requires such a motion to be filed within 28 days after judgment. The court applied the same standard used for reconsideration motions under Local Rule 6.3. Under that standard, a court may alter or amend a judgment when controlling law has changed, previously unavailable new evidence emerges, or amendment is needed to correct a clear legal error or prevent manifest injustice. The court described reconsideration as an extraordinary remedy that should be used sparingly.

Ruling

The court found that it had erred by omitting Simon Law and Fortress Foods from the judgment. It also concluded that the judgment should direct the defendants to pay the $392,376 contempt award in full within 30 days, or potentially face further civil-contempt proceedings.

The court GRANTED Vista’s motion to alter or amend the judgment, ECF No. 264. It dismissed Vista’s motion to expedite, ECF No. 268, as moot, and directed the Clerk to terminate both motions.