Opinion ID: 447961
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Summary Judgment Proof

Text: 19 The summary judgment record consists of a meager showing on the issue of Georgia-Pacific's status as a business seller of used sawmill equipment. The affidavit of Arnold Jones, the plant manager of Georgia-Pacific's Arkansas plant, establishes that (1) the trimmer was sold in 1978 because it was no longer needed in the operation of the Arkansas plant; (2) Georgia-Pacific only sells sawmill trimmers and other used equipment when it decides to take equipment out of service at its plants or sawmills; and (3) Georgia-Pacific does not sell every piece of used sawmill equipment that it takes out of service; some equipment is scrapped or transferred to other plants or sawmills within the corporation. The affidavit also states the conclusion that Georgia-Pacific is not in the business of selling trimmers. 20 Galindo did not specifically counter the averments of the affidavit. We conclude, however, that the affidavit did not discharge Georgia-Pacific's burden of showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that Georgia-Pacific is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We note first that the affidavit's statement that Georgia-Pacific is not engaged in the business of selling sawmill trimmers is merely a conclusion which could not shift the summary judgment burden to Galindo. As we read Texas law, a determination whether one is engaged in the business of selling depends on an analysis of the totality of the circumstances surrounding sales efforts, in the light of the rationale underlying imposition of strict liability. Whether a finding that one is engaged in the business of selling is labelled a conclusion of law, a mixed question of law and fact, or an ultimate fact, the general statement that Georgia-Pacific is not engaged in the business of selling trimmers, without reference to the specific nature of sales activities, is not competent summary judgment proof. We have long recognized that mere statements of conclusions of law or ultimate fact cannot shift the summary judgment burden to the nonmovant. See, e.g., Gossett v. Du-Ra-Kel Corp., 569 F.2d 869, 872 (5th Cir.1978) (conclusory, bald assertions of ultimate facts are ordinarily insufficient to support summary judgment); Benton-Volvo-Metairie, Inc. v. Volvo Southwest, Inc., 479 F.2d 135, 138-39 (5th Cir.1973) (nonmovant survives motion for summary judgment, without countering movant's showing, where movant's affidavit set forth only ultimate facts or conclusions); Dawkins v. Green, 412 F.2d 644, 646 (5th Cir.1969) (same); Bridges v. Internal Revenue Serv., 433 F.2d 299, 300 (5th Cir.1970) (bare, conclusory allegations that defendant was within scope of authority cannot sustain summary judgment); C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d Sec. 2738 (1983). In Chavers v. Exxon Corp., 716 F.2d 315, 318 (5th Cir.1983), we vacated a summary judgment that, for purposes of the statutory-employer section of the Louisiana workers' compensation law, defendant's trade, business, or occupation included oil drilling operations. Summary judgment was based on defendant's conclusory affidavit that its trade[,] business and occupation is the location, production and sale of oil and gas. We vacated because resolution of the issue of defendant's status under Louisiana law depended on a subsidiary showing, on which the affidavit was silent, that defendant or others in its industry customarily conducted drilling operations with their own employees, rather than subcontractors. The conclusory statement that Georgia-Pacific is not engaged in the business of selling used sawmill equipment, like the conclusory statement in Chavers, offers no enlightenment on matters that, in our view, are essential to a proper disposition of the motion for summary judgment. Id. at 318. See also Pitts v. Shell Oil Co., 463 F.2d 331, 334 (5th Cir.1972) (on issue whether plaintiff was employee or independent contractor, which depends on who has right to control the details of the work, self-serving conclusions of defendant's affidavit cannot support summary judgment); Fowler v. Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph, 343 F.2d 150, 154 (5th Cir.1965) (defendant's sworn, conclusory statements, unsupported by specific facts, that they were acting within scope of employment could not support summary judgment). 21 Absent the conclusory claim that Georgia-Pacific is not engaged in the business of selling sawmill trimmers, the affidavit cannot support the summary judgment. The affidavit leaves many material fact questions about Georgia-Pacific's sales of used sawmill equipment unanswered. For example, Georgia-Pacific made no showing with respect to (1) the number of used equipment sales made by Georgia-Pacific; (2) the amount of revenue generated by those sales; (3) the number of employees or the extent of other corporate resources devoted to making the sales; or (4) the use of advertising or other marketing techniques to publicize the availability of used equipment for sale. While summary judgment may have been proper under the district court's view of Texas law, under which these questions are immaterial, it cannot stand under our understanding of comment f. Since the affidavit leaves open the possibility that these questions will be answered in a manner favorable to Galindo, summary judgment for Georgia-Pacific was improper. 22 Georgia-Pacific's reliance on Bailey v. ITT Grinnell Corp., 536 F.Supp. at 84, is misplaced. In Bailey, defendant purchased a punch press, used it in its business for a number of years, and then sold it through a used equipment broker. The district court, applying Ohio law, granted summary judgment for the defendant on the ground that the sale was an occasional sale exempted by comment f from section 402A liability. Defendant admitted selling the punch press that allegedly caused plaintiff's injuries, but submitted an affidavit that stated it is not and has never been, a designer, manufacturer, assembler, marketer, rebuilder, distributor, retailer, or seller of punch presses. The court held that this affidavit was sufficient to shift the burden to the plaintiff to demonstrate a fact question for trial. The court further held that plaintiff could not discharge that burden by reliance on the claim that [defendant's] corporate size creates an inference that [defendant] transfers numerous presses. 23 In Bailey, there was nothing in the record to indicate that defendant had made other sales of punch presses. The affidavit stated that, but for the sale of the press involved in the case, defendant had never been a seller of punch presses. In this case, on the other hand, Galindo does not have to infer from Georgia-Pacific's size that it has made more than one sale. The affidavit itself states that other sales have in fact been made. Moreover, the affidavit does not make a prima facie showing that, although other sales have been made, sales efforts do not rise to the level of a business in which Georgia-Pacific is engaged. On the record before us, that is an open question. Cf. Walker v. Skyclimber, Inc., 571 F.Supp. 1176, 1179 (D.V.I.1983) (affidavit that defendant is not in the business of selling, distributing, advertising, or maintaining any sales agency, sufficient to shift summary judgment burden; nothing in the record to indicate that other sales had been made). 24 What we have said thus far obviously disposes of Galindo's claim that the record conclusively shows that Georgia-Pacific is in fact engaged in the business of selling used sawmill trimmers. There is simply not enough evidence in the record to say, one way or the other, whether Georgia-Pacific is engaged in the business of selling used sawmill equipment. Since Georgia-Pacific did not discharge its summary judgment burden, the judgment must be vacated, without prejudice to the possibility of resolution of the issue by summary judgment on an adequate record.