UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-2370

L&W SUPPLY CORPORATION, trading as Building Specialties, 

United States of America for the use and benefit of,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

GREENWAY ENTERPRISES, INC.; THE GUARANTEE COMPANY OF NORTH 

AMERICA USA,

Defendants – Appellants,

and

LCJ AND ASSOCIATES LLC; ELIZABETH MUTTER, f/k/a Elizabeth 

Hubbard,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of Virginia, at Alexandria. T. S. Ellis, III, Senior

District Judge. (1:12-cv-00333-TSE-TCB)

Argued: September 17, 2013 Decided: October 29, 2013

Before WILKINSON, DUNCAN, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ARGUED: Palmer Hoovestal, HOOVESTAL LAW FIRM, PLLC, Helena, 

Montana, for Appellants. James Charles Judkins, COWLES, 

RINALDI, JUDKINS & KORJUS, LTD., Fairfax, Virginia, for 
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Appellee. ON BRIEF: Ralph D. Rinaldi, COWLES, RINALDI, JUDKINS 

& KORJUS, LTD., Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:

The Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. § 3131 et seq., requires that a 

prime contractor performing a construction project for the 

federal government costing in excess of $100,000 post a payment 

bond to protect those who have a direct contractual relationship 

with a contractor or subcontractor. See J. W. Bateson Co., Inc. 

v. United States ex rel. Bd. of Trustees of Nat. Automatic 

Sprinkler Indus. Pension Fund, 434 U.S. 586, 587 (1978). 

Defendant-appellant Greenway Enterprises Inc. (“Greenway”) 

entered into a contract with the federal government for an 

amount exceeding $100,000 to provide labor and materials 

necessary to improve a federal facility. Greenway posted the 

necessary bond, with defendant-appellant Guarantee Company of 

North America (“GCNA”) acting as surety. 

Greenway then subcontracted with LCJ and Associates, LLC 

(“LCJ”), a firm run by Charles and Elizabeth Mutter, to perform 

some of the work on the project. The Mutters had previously 

operated their business through a sole proprietorship known as 

LC Property Improvements (“LC Property”). They considered LCJ to 

be the successor company to LC Property. LC Property had an open 

credit account with plaintiff-appellee L&W Service Corporation 

(“L&W”), which supplied the Mutters with materials for the 

project. The Mutters paid for a portion of those materials, but 

L&W sought recovery of the additional balance from Greenway and 
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GNCA. The district court granted summary judgment on behalf of 

L&W and awarded it $64,794.63.

The sole issue before this court is whether the district 

court properly granted summary judgment on behalf of L&W, which 

required a determination of the underlying question of whether 

L&W was a proper Miller Act claimant. We review the district 

court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Shipbuilders Council 

of Am. v. U.S. Coast Guard, 578 F.3d 234, 243 (4th Cir. 2009). 

Appellants claim that LCJ and LC Properties were distinct 

companies, and that L&W had a contract only with LC Properties, 

which had no contractual relationship with Greenway. The 

district court rejected this argument, determining that LCJ was 

the successor company to LC Properties. Consequently, the 

district court held that L&W had a contractual relationship with 

LCJ, and was entitled to recovery under the Miller Act.

We affirm on the reasoning of the district court, as 

articulated in its October 26, 2012 motions hearing. See Motions 

Hearing, L&W Supply Corp. v. LCJ & Assoc., LLC, No. 1:12-cv-333 

(E.D.V.A. Oct. 26, 2012). As the court below noted, the Mutters 

treated LCJ as the successor to LC Property and acted as if 

there was a contractual relationship between L&W and LCJ. LCJ 

paid for materials from L&W with LCJ checks. LCJ, then, was 

clearly the successor company of LC Property and maintained a 
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contractual relationship with L&W. Therefore L&W is a proper 

Miller Act claimant and is entitled to relief.

AFFIRMED