Johnson v. Columbia Properties

I. Background

Johnson is a citizen of Alaska. Columbia is a limited part- nership organized in Ohio. Its two partners, CP Anchorage, GP, LLC, and CSC Holdings, LLC, are limited liability com- panies (LLCs), also organized in Ohio. The two LLCs are owned by a Kentucky corporation; by an Ohio corporation; and by a trust whose sole trustee is a bank incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Minnesota.

Columbia managed the construction of the Marriott Hotel in Anchorage between 1998 and 2000. In August 1998, Dave Mueller, Columbia’s project manager, entered into a contract with Johnson, an independent contractor, under which John- son agreed to provide crane services. On August 17, 1998, Johnson sent a proposal to Mueller for rental of a 125-ton crane, as well as for wages for a crane operator and an oiler. Brian Prince, a project engineer for Columbia, replied on August 25th, accepting the proposal and summarizing the agreement between Johnson and Columbia. Prince’s one- paragraph letter stated that Johnson would provide the “125 1620 JOHNSON v. COLUMBIA PROPERTIES ANCHORAGE ton truck crane” to Columbia “per your proposal of 8/17/98 to Dave Mueller.”…