Linstol USA, LLC v. Midway Advanced Products, LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA FORT MYERS DIVISION LINSTOL USA, LLC, a Florida limited liability company Plaintiff, v. Case No.: 2:18-cv-669-FtM-38NPM MIDWAY ADVANCED PRODUCTS, LLC, Defendant. / OPINION AND ORDER1 Before the Court is Linstol USA, LLC’s Motion for Entry of Default Final Judgment (Doc. 32). The Court previously granted the motion in part but determined that a hearing should be held to determine the appropriate amount of damages. (Doc. 34). Since 2015, Linstol has purchased b4-brand hand sanitizer from Midway to be incorporated into amenity kits for United Airlines. (Doc. 25 at 2–3). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Import Alert in late December 2017, banning import of b4 hand sanitizer. Midway was aware of the ban but did not immediately inform Linstol or stop the shipment of b4 hand sanitizer. When Midway finally told Linstol about the Import Alert two months later, the banned hand sanitizer had already been incorporated into 1 Disclaimer: Documents filed in CM/ECF may contain hyperlinks to other documents or websites. These hyperlinks are provided only for users’ convenience. Users are cautioned that hyperlinked documents in CM/ECF are subject to PACER fees. By allowing hyperlinks to other websites, this Court does not endorse, recommend, approve, or guarantee any third parties or the services or products they provide on their websites. Likewise, the Court has no agreements with any of these third parties or their websites. The Court accepts no responsibility for the availability or functionality of any hyperlink. Thus, the fact that a hyperlink ceases to work or directs the user to some other site does not affect the opinion of the Court. more than a million amenity kits. As a result, Linstol paid to have the b4 hand sanitizer removed from the amenity kits and destroyed under FDA supervision. (Doc. 25 at 4). Based on these facts, which are deemed true due to Midway’s default, the Court granted Linstol default judgment on its breach-of-warranty claim. When liability is established by default, a plaintiff must prove damages with reasonable certainty. Crossfit, Inc. v. Quinnie, 232 F. Supp. 3d 1295, 1310-11 (N.D. Ga. 2017). “Under Florida law, a claimant in an action for breach of warranty may recover damages for the diminished value of the warranted goods as well as incidental and consequential damages resulting from the breach.” Kia Motors Am., Inc. v. Doughty, 242 So. 3d 1172, 1175 (Dist. Ct. App. Fla. 2018). Linstol seeks damages of $742,545, representing $689,607 in out-of-pocket costs and $52,938 in lost profits based on a Declaration from Finance Manager Jennifer Bremer. At the damages hearing, Bremer presented invoices supporting these amounts and explained how she calculated them. The Court finds Bremer’s testimony credible and Linstol’s evidence adequate to support the damages it requests. Linstol is also entitled to recovery of its filing fee and service of process costs, totaling $730.50. (See Doc. 32-2). Accordingly, it is now ORDERED: The Clerk shall enter default judgment in favor of Plaintiff Linstol USA, LLC against Defendant Midway Advanced Products, LLC in the amount of $743,275.50. DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this 15th day of August, 2019. UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Copies: All Parties of Record