Casserlie v. Shell Oil Company
Ohio Supreme Court
121 Ohio St.3d 25, 902 N.E.2d 1 (2009)
- Written by Mary Pfotenhauer, JD
Facts
Donald Casserlie and others (dealers) (plaintiffs) leased gas stations from Shell Oil Company (Shell) (defendant) and operated them as franchisees. Shell sold gasoline to the dealers at a posted dealer-tank-wagon (DTW) price, which included the cost of delivery and was within the range set by Shell’s competitors. Shell also sold gasoline to jobbers directly from Shell’s terminal at a lower price that did not include delivery costs. Jobbers also performed additional functions for Shell as compared to dealers. The dealers sued Shell, arguing that Shell acted in bad faith in setting the DTW price. The dealers argued that Shell set the DTW price with the intent of driving the dealers out of business so that Shell could take over and directly profit from the dealers’ gas stations. The trial court granted summary judgment for Shell, finding that the dealers had failed to show that Shell set the DTW price in a commercially unreasonable manner. The court of appeals affirmed. The dealers appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Moyer, C.J.)
Dissent (Pfeifer, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 790,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
