[NOT FOR PUBLICATION — NOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]
United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
Nos. 00-2075
00-2259
JORGE MACIAS,
Plaintiff, Appellee,
v.
FURNITURE SERVICES, INC., ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellants.
APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Jaime Pieras, Jr., Senior U.S. District Judge]
Before
Selya, Boudin, and Lynch,
Circuit Judges.
Jerrold J. Wohlgemuth, with whom Reppert, Kelly &
Wohlgemuth, LLP was on brief, for appellants.
Julian R. Rivera-Aspinall, with whom Rivera-Aspinall,
Garriga & Fernandini, P.S.C. was on brief, for appellee.
April 25, 2001
Per Curiam. These appeals stem from a dispute between
defendant-appellant Furniture Services, Inc. (FSI) and
plaintiff-appellee Joseph Macias, formerly FSI's exclusive sales
representative in Puerto Rico. When FSI terminated the
arrangement, Macias invoked diversity jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. §
1332(a), and sued FSI (along with several related persons and
firms) for damages in the federal district court.
The district court, acting with commendable dispatch,
set trial for June 19, 2000. In the period from June 9 to June
15, the court attempted to broker a settlement. The judge
believed that his efforts had borne fruit, and, accordingly,
entered a judgment of dismissal. The scheduled trial did not
transpire.
FSI promptly moved to vacate the judgment. Macias
acquiesced and urged the court to restore the case to the trial
calendar. The district judge nonetheless denied the motion to
vacate.
We have carefully considered the record, the parties'
briefs, and the attorneys' statements during oral argument. We
are persuaded that the district court, in good faith,
misunderstood the representations of FSI's counsel, and that the
court therefore entered judgment based on a mistaken premise.
A judgment resting on a clear mistake of fact, seasonably called
to the trial court's attention, cannot be allowed to stand.
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Accordingly, we vacate the judgment and remand the case for trial.
Vacated and remanded. No costs.
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