Facts

Hoskin Hogan and several other plaintiffs filed several lawsuits against BP West Coast Products LLC, and Retalix Ltd.

BP counterclaimed against Ganesh Group Corp., concerning Ganesh Group's alleged failure to pay for the subject Retalix system.

Retalix prevailed on summary judgment prior to trial. The case continued against BP.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs consisted of franchisees of BP- and Arco-branded gas stations, including AM/PM Mini Market franchises that make up about 500 plaintiffs. Defendants allegedly charged plaintiffs an exhorbitant amount for gasoline and forced plaintiffs to use a costly, but faulty point-of-sale and back office system with software made by defendant Retalix. Plaintiffs claimed defendants' bad faith pricing precluded them from competing with other gasoline retailers. Plaintiffs alleged causes of action for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and bad faith. Plaintiffs claimed breach of the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Plaintiffs' claimed, with respect to gas pricing, that BP violated the implied terms of its contracts with the plaintiffs, and the covenant of good faith and fair dealing by setting the wholesale price at which the plaintiffs had to purchase gas from BP at a commercially unreasonable level or not in good faith.

With respect to the Retalix system, plaintiffs argued that BP violated its contracts with plaintiffs, as well as implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, by forcing plaintiffs to purchase a system that was defective.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendant BP claimed its pricing was reasonable. BP claimed that the issues with the software were only in the initial rollout and that it was otherwise compliant or exceeded industry standards.

Defendant Retalix claimed that plaintiffs' claims were barred by the economic loss doctrine.

Damages

Dhillon Partners LL, Nasar Enterprises Inc., Ganesh Group Corp., and KJYT Visions Inc. sought to recover more than $1.6 million in damages for the alleged unreasonable gas pricing, and more than $300,000 in damages for the Retalix-based claims, plus interest and other related damages.

Result

The jury rendered a defense verdict on the gas-pricing claim against BP. In contrast, it found in favor of plaintiffs on one of their three Retalix-related claims against BP, the claim for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability and awarded plaintiffs $99,490 in total damages. BP received a defense verdict on the other two Retalix related claims for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The jury also rendered a verdict in BP's counterclaim against Ganesh Group and awarded BP $35,000 in damages.

Other Information

The trial involved plaintiffs from two different related cases, Hoskin Hogan et al. v. BP West Coast Products LLC and Retalix, Ltd. (BC460880), and Grand Petroleum, Inc. et al. v. BP West Coast Products LLC, Retalix, Ltd. (BC494169). FILING DATE: May 4, 2011.

Deliberation

three days

Length

five weeks