Columbia Steel Fabricators, Inc. Stevens Equipment Company v. Ahlstrom Recovery Aaro Kohonen Oy

OPINION

KLEINFELD, Circuit Judge:

The district court granted summary judgment sua sponte against plaintiffs, even though the defendant had not yet appeared. Another defendant had won summary judgment on the same grounds, and the court found the case to be frivolous. We affirm.

Facts

Ahlstrom was the general contractor building a boiler for Louisiana Pacific Corporation. Ahlstrom hired Stevens Equipment for steel fabrication, and Stevens contracted with its affiliate Columbia Steel for materials. Ahlstrom hired Aaro Kohonen Oy (AKO), in Finland, for engineering.

Stevens and Colmnbia made a number…