Alaska Laborers Health & Security, Retirement, Training & Legal Services Trust Funds v. Alaska Trailblazing, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Alaska Laborers Health and Security, Retirement, Training and Legal Services Funds (“Laborers”), appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant-Appellee Alaska Trailblazing, Inc. (“Trailblazing”), on the ground of res judicata. Because the facts and procedural history are familiar to the parties, we do not recite them here, except as necessary to explain our disposition. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo both the district court’s determination that res judicata applies and its order granting summary judgment on that ground. See Clark v. Bear Stearns & Co., 966 F.2d 1318, 1320 (9th Cir.1992). We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.

It is undisputed that the prior action was between the same parties and concluded in a final judgment on the merits. We analyze whether or not a subsequent claim is based on the same “cause of action” by considering, among other factors, “whether the two suits arise out of the same transactional nucleus of facts.” Costantini v. Trans World Airlines, 681 F.2d 1199, 1201-02 (9th Cir.1982). To avoid “repetitive litigation,” we consider whether claims…