The complaint in this case arose out of a series of employee thefts from plaintiff Lincoln Electric Company, which does business as Harris Calorific and is a manufacturer and seller of welding products. Items stolen from Lincoln Electric were sold to Westside Supply Company, which also sells welding equipment. William Swann is the sole stockholder of Westside Supply. Lincoln Electric Company and its insurer, Federal Insurance Company collectively “Lincoln”, brought this action against Westside and Swann collectively “Westside” unless otherwise indicated, seeking damages against one or both defendants under the following theories of recovery: conversion; tortious conversion; civil RICO, conspiracy to breach duties of honesty, loyalty, and good faith; conspiracy to commit fraud; unjust enrichment; conspiracy to commit conversion; breach of contract, breach of implied contract, and negligence. The trial court granted summary judgment to Westside and Swann on the fraud and negligence claims and concluded that Westside and Swann were entitled to partial summary judgment on claims based on sales that occurred outside the applicable statutes of limitation. The court denied summary judgment to Westside with respect to the remaining claims. In Case No. A03A1380, Lincoln appeals from the denial of its motion for partial summary judgment on the conversion claims and from the partial grant of summary judgment to Westside and Swann. In Case No. A03A1381, Westside appeals from the denial of its motion for summary judgment on the remaining claims. As more fully discussed below, we conclude that the trial court correctly denied summary judgment to both parties with respect to Lincoln’s conversion claims. We also conclude, however, that although the trial court correctly granted summary judgment to Westside on Lincoln’s negligence claim, the trial court incorrectly granted summary judgment to Westside on issues related to Lincoln’s fraud claim, including issues concerning the applicable statutes of limitations. In Case No. A03A1380, we therefore affirm in part and reverse in part. Because we conclude that the trial court correctly denied summary judgment to Westside with respect to the remaining claims, we affirm the judgment in Case No. A03A1381.
It is undisputed that Westside and Lincoln were involved in a long-time business relationship in which Westside regularly purchased new supplies from Lincoln. Dennis Oberlies was employed by Lincoln for several years as a distribution manager. Westside and Lincoln engaged directly in two legitimate business transactions, in which Westside purchased excess inventory from Lincoln. Oberlies assisted with these transactions.
