Terrafix Environmental U.S.A., Inc. v. BATG Environmental, No. 1:2009cv10852 - Document 23 (D. Mass. 2010)
Court Description: Judge George A. OToole, Jr: OPINION AND ORDER entered denying 19 Motion to Amend; denying 19 Motion for Leave to File Document (Lyness, Paul)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL ACTION NO. 09-10852-GAO TERRAFIX ENVIRONMENTAL U.S.A, INC., Plaintiff, v. BATG ENVIRONMENTAL, Defendant, v. TOWN OF CHARLTON, Reach and Apply Defendant. OPINION AND ORDER August 10, 2010 O TOOLE, D.J. After review of the parties submissions, the Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint (dkt. no. 19) is DENIED. Both proposed amendments are futile. See Maldonado v. Dominguez, 137 F.3d 1, 11 (1st Cir. 1998) ( [L]eave to amend shall not be granted where amendments would be futile. ). Adding a claim under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 149, § 29 would be futile because that provision does not apply to the contract between the Town of Charlton and BATG Environmental ( BATG ). That provision applies only to contracts where the amount of the contract is more than two thousand dollars. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 29. Under the contract here, BATG agreed to provide its services in exchange of a location for depositing and disposing of unlined landfill cover . . . , and without any monetary compensation payable to [BATG]. (Aff. of Robin Leal Craver Ex. B, at 1 (emphasis added).) Adding an unjust enrichment/quantum meruit claim would also be futile because municipalities are not liable under this theory of recovery. See All Seasons Servs., Inc. v. Comm r of Health & Hosps. of Boston, 620 N.E.2d 778, 780 (Mass. 1993) ( The long-standing rule is that a municipality is not liable for implied contracts. ); Baltazar Contractors, Inc. v. Town of Lunenburg, 843 N.E.2d 674, 679 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006) ( [A] party cannot evade the statutory limitations on a municipality s contracting power by rendering services and subsequently seeking recovery based on alternative theories, such as quantum meruit. ) (quoting Park Drive Towing, Inc. v. Revere, 809 N.E.2d 1045 (Mass. 2004)). It is SO ORDERED. /s/ George A. O Toole, Jr. United States District Judge 2
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