The plaintiff, IPEX Inc., settled numerous class actions related to its defective Kitec Pipe.
IPEX then sued its resin suppliers, AT Plastics Inc. and Lubrizol Advanced Materials Inc., for breach of contract and indemnity, seeking to recover the settlement amount.
The defendant suppliers brought motions for partial summary judgment, arguing that IPEX could not prove causation without individual claims data.
The court dismissed the defendants' motions, finding that IPEX could plausibly establish causation for its breach of contract claim without individual data, and that the tort claim should proceed to trial alongside the contract claim to avoid bifurcation and inconsistent findings.
The court also found that the reasonableness of the settlement and the assignment argument were not suitable for summary judgment.