Federal Judge Denies E-Cigarette Distributor's Summary Judgment Request

A federal judge in Alabama has rejected a motion for a summary judgment made by an e-cigarette distributor, who claimed that a wholesaler owed them over $100,000 for unpaid product invoices, as reported by Law360 on January 10th.

In a brief order, Judge Annemarie Carney Axon stated that Safa Goods LLC failed to provide undisputed evidence to support its claim against Perfect Wholesale Inc., and therefore the trial must proceed.

According to the directive, there are currently some controversial issues, including whether the invoice constitutes a valid contract, whether Safa has fulfilled the contract, whether Perfect Wholesale has indeed accepted the goods, and whether the price has been determined in the contract.

Akson did not further elaborate on the reasons for her refusal to support the motion.

Safa filed a lawsuit against Perfect Wholesale in August, alleging that the wholesaler had shipped goods to them between October and December 2021. As of the last shipment, Perfect Wholesale owed $158,745 in outstanding payments.

According to the lawsuit, Safa extended a credit of $55,200 to Perfect Wholesale in February 2022. As of that time, the wholesaler still owed $103,545 and had failed to make payment in response to a letter demanding payment.

In its motion for summary judgment, Safa argues that the invoice is a valid contract, and accuses Perfect Wholesale of breach. Safa further alleges that it has suffered damages due to Perfect Wholesale's failure to make payment.

In response, Perfect Wholesale argued that the invoices were not contracts and Safa failed to fulfill its obligations. They claimed that Safa did not actually place orders for some of the products as claimed, and that the prices or deliveries of other products ordered were not accurate.

Perfect Wholesale has proposed a motion to revoke the inclusion of an evidence display in Safa's response to Perfect Wholesale's objections. They claim that the documents in the display were concealed by Safa during the discovery process, are unverified, and should not be submitted as evidence at this time.