United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. American State Bank
United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. American State Bank
Opinion of the Court
This case reaches us as a Rule 54(b) offshoot, Fed.R.Civ.P., in an original ac
Although the full scope of this appeal has required the parties to present arguments touching upon the jurisdictional and venue aspects of the Miller Act, the requirements of Rules 4(f) and 14, Fed. R.Civ.P., as they apply to the Miller Act, and the availability of the Oklahoma long-arm statute in such cases, we deem a threshold question to be dispositive. Did the court err in dismissing the third-party complaint when it became apparent that the appellant surety’s claim against appellees was founded on the performance bond and was totally unrelated to the payment bond on which the use plaintiff brought the original action ? We hold that the court did not err and affirm the judgment.
In Limerick v. T. F. Scholes, Inc., 292 F.2d 195, this court held it proper under the Miller Act to allow a third-party complaint by the surety wherein it was alleged that the third-party defendants had agreed to indemnify the prime contractor for any failure of the sub-contractor to perform and that the claim in the,.main .action was predicated on the non-performance of the sub-contractor. In Limerick the amount claimed by the use plaintiff was the identical amount for which the indemnifying third parties would be liable and the fact of liability of the third parties was dependent upon the success of the use plaintiff in the main action. In the case at bar, in contrast, no attempt is made to pass on to third parties all or part of the claim asserted against the original defendants. The original suit is on a payment bond. The third-party complaint is for indemnification for losses on a performance bond.
Affirmed.
. In the third-party complaint, surety asked for $400,000 as its cost of taking over and completing the project for PLS Company, $400,000 for punitive damages, and $40,000 for attorney’s fees. The prayer for damages did not mention surety’s potential amount of liability on the payment bond.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY v. The AMERICAN STATE BANK, Frank Farris, Howe Sound Company, Murray Director Affiliates, Inc., and Security National Bank of Kansas City, Kansas
- Cited By
- 9 cases
- Status
- Published