UNITIL CORPORATION v. UTILITY WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA LOCAL 341, 2:16-cv-00443

Unitil filed an application to vacate an arbitration award and attached seven stipulated documents from the arbitration (including the arbitrator’s decision and the parties’ briefs).
The Union, opposing Unitil’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, attached additional documents including a spreadsheet Unitil had produced and that the Union introduced at arbitration.
Attorney Paul F. Kelly submitted an affidavit authenticating the Union’s attachments after Unitil objected to their authentication.
Unitil moved to strike Kelly’s affidavit and the attached documents, arguing they could not be considered on cross-motions for judgment on the pleadings.
The court found the spreadsheet and other documents were central to Unitil’s claims and effectively authenticated, but it did not need them to decide the cross-motions.
Because the court granted judgment on the pleadings for the Union without relying on the contested documents, it dismissed Unitil’s motion to strike as moot.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court may consider the Union’s affidavit and attachments on Rule 12(c) motions	Unitil: documents not properly authenticated and therefore not admissible for a 12(c) ruling	Union: documents (esp. spreadsheet) were produced by Unitil, admitted at arbitration, and properly authenticated by affidavit	Court: documents are central and effectively authenticated, so they may be considered, but consideration was unnecessary to resolve the motions
Whether the spreadsheet admitted at arbitration was properly before the court	Unitil: disputes relevance/authentication	Union: Unitil produced the spreadsheet and did not object at arbitration; arbitrator referenced it	Court: spreadsheet was properly before the court as central and sufficiently referred to in the complaint
Whether Unitil’s motion to strike should be granted	Unitil: strike affidavit and attachments as improper for 12(c) consideration	Union: attachments are admissible and relevant	Court: motion to strike dismissed as moot because decision did not rely on contested materials
Whether judgment on the pleadings could be resolved without the contested documents	Unitil: reliance on arbitration record needed	Union: cross-motions can be decided with stipulated materials and pleadings	Court: resolved in Union’s favor using pleadings and stipulated documents only

Curran v. Cousins, 509 F.3d 36 (1st Cir. 2007) (courts may consider pleadings as a whole and certain external documents on a Rule 12(c) motion)
Aponte-Torres v. Univ. of P.R., 445 F.3d 50 (1st Cir. 2006) (Rule 12(c) may implicate materials beyond bare allegations)
Waterson v. Page, 987 F.2d 1 (1st Cir. 1993) (documents central to a claim or whose authenticity is undisputed may be considered on dismissal motions)
R.G. Fin. Corp. v. Vergara-Nuñez, 446 F.3d 178 (1st Cir. 2006) (courts may supplement pleadings with documents fairly incorporated therein)