A bench trial in a civil lawsuit involving two Bartholomew County farmers got underway this week — nine years after the litigation was filed.
Plaintiff Chad Sims filed litigation against defendant Gregory W. Daily and his Petersville business, Daily Feed and Grain on April 16, 2015. But the bench trial didn’t get underway until Tuesday in Brownstown, with Jackson Superior Court AmyMarie Travis presiding as special judge.
Jeff Beck of Columbus is the attorney for Sims while Brad Catlin of Indianapolis is representing Daily and his business, Daily Feed and Grain.
Over the past nine years, a number of judges and attorneys were asked or considered to take part in the court proceedings. While a few refused, most served for a period of time before stepping down. Each time a new lawyer or new judge becomes part of any case, there are several weeks or months of delays to allow newcomers to bring themselves up to speed.
In addition, this case is extremely complex in the fact that it involves several legal agreements, conflicting testimony, and a number of impacted businesses. There have also been unsuccessful efforts to resolve the matter through mediation.
Other factors that caused the case to stretch out over several years include multiple requests for the judge to make a judgment without a trial (summary judgment), hearings on whether certain depositions should be admitted, other hearings to consider amendments to the case – and even hearings regarding a request for a protective order.
In a general summary of the lawsuit, prior to the filing of the litigation, Sims assisted Daily in the seed business from 2012 to 2014. Between 2011 and 2014, Daily and Sims agreed to jointly pool their efforts in farming. Another Daily employee, Richard Hartwell Jr., also became part of that arrangement, according to court records.
A variety of agreements were drawn up in regard to different agricultural properties that have agreements that spell out what level of profit each participant is entitled to receive. There was agreement that the majority of all grain produced through the agreements would be sold to or through Daily Feed and Grain, the lawsuit states.
In the lawsuit, Sims’ first allegation was that Daily’s business either failed or refused to provide certain weight tickets and settlement sheets for grain sold by Sims to Daily’s Feed and Grain. Weight tickets essentially state the gross weight of a load of crops, while summary sheets list the commodity handler’s transactions with specific owners.
In his response, Daily denied the allegations, according to court documents.
According to Sims, there was a February 2015 meeting where Daily allegedly said he was changing the 2010 arrangement, and would only divide monies from the sale of grain based upon how much acreage is registered at the Farm Service Agency offices. Daily also said he would apply that new division retroactively back to 2011, the lawsuit stated.
Although Daily agreed in his response that there was a meeting, the defendant denied most claims regarding what he said at that time. Daily also denied an allegation that he took possession of some of Sims’ grain without permission.
The plaintiff claims that Daily had acknowledged that his business owed Sims a total of $266,671. But when Sims asked that the money be released to him, Daily Feed and Grain failed or refused to do so, the lawsuit alleges. Daily denies that allegation, as well as Sims’ claim that the defendant refused to provide information regarding Sims’ remaining grain.
In the lawsuit, Sims alleges that Daily contacted Consolidated Grain and Barge, one of Daily’s Feed and Grain competitors with local operations in Elizabethtown, on Feb. 16, 2015. According to Sims, Daily made a claim that he had interest in corn being held in Sims’ grain bins. Due to that claim, Consolidated refused to accept Sims’ corn, which the plaintiff said cost him a contract for $19,320.
Consolidated agreed to deposit $23,945 with the Bartholomew County Clerk’s office to avoid becoming part of the lawsuit, according to court records. The deposit will be held until a legal judgement is made regarding ownership of the grain.
The plaintiff also claims that in early 2015, Daily sent letters to Sims’ customers containing falsehoods in an effort to dissuade them from working with Sims in the future, according to court records. In the litigation, the plaintiff said Daily’s statements were false, untrue and malicious, adding they have damaged Sims’ ability to do business, court records state.
Sims also said there were letters from Daily to his own customers. In one such letter dated March 13, 2015, the defendant claimed that Sims and Carol Brooks, district seed manager for Stewart Seed, were contacting Daily’s customers claiming to be taking orders on behalf of Daily’s Feed and Grain, court records state. The letter states that neither Sims nor Brooks worked for Daily, and did not know what company they represented.
But the plaintiff claims Daily was well aware he was working as a subcontractor for Stewart Seed, court records state. Sims says Daily collaborated with him in selling Stewart Seed prior to 2015, court records state.
Brooks, who is listed as a counter claim defendant in the lawsuit, stated in a court document that Daily asked to be removed from his Stewart Seed account, with all financial affiliation and liability transferred to Sims. But Stewart Seed worked with other parties to determine that $189,268 of the account’s liabilities were the responsibility of Daily Feed and Grain, Brooks claimed.
Sims is asking for the fair market value of the grain that he claims was unlawfully taken, interest on a farm’s market value of the grain from the time of its conversion, reasonable attorney fees, legal fees and any other relief the court may consider proper. Earlier this month, Hartwell was dismissed as a defendant in the case.
In a response from Daily’s former attorney dated May 18, 2015, Thomas Blackwell told the court that Sims’ complaint fails to provide a claim upon which relief can be granted.
Blackwell also maintains that Sims is prevented from asserting the claims contained in his litigation by his actions and omissions. Daily’s attorney also said Sims’ claims are based upon fraudulent behavior, and his claims for unpaid amounts are offset by amounts owed to Daily’s business. Blackwell, who accused Sims of illegal conduct., also wrote that the plaintiff’s claims of fraud fail to hold up under Indiana statute, court records state.
A spokeswoman for Judge Travis said five days had been set aside for the bench trial. After the proceedings end early next week, Travis is expected to take the matter under consideration and announce a decision in the future, the spokeswoman said.
Claims made in filing a lawsuit represent only one side of the case and may be contested in later court action.
