Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/430/568/463165/
Timestamp: 2020-07-06 00:25:52
Document Index: 521023146

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', '§ 13', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 1232', '§ 2', 'art, 5', '§ 13']

Tilden A. Jones, Plaintiff-appellant, v. the Borden Company, Defendant-appellee, 430 F.2d 568 (5th Cir. 1970) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Fifth Circuit › 1970 › Tilden A. Jones, Plaintiff-appellant, v. the Borden Company, Defendant-appellee
Tilden A. Jones, Plaintiff-appellant, v. the Borden Company, Defendant-appellee, 430 F.2d 568 (5th Cir. 1970)
US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - 430 F.2d 568 (5th Cir. 1970) July 15, 1970
Summary judgments in antitrust cases often are unadvisable. White Motor Company v. United States, 1963, 372 U.S. 253, 259, 83 S. Ct. 696, 700, 9 L. Ed. 2d 738, 744. But in this treble damage action for price discrimination and exclusive dealing arrangements under the Robinson-Patman Act, the Borden Company has established by deposition and affidavit the nonexistence of exclusive dealing arrangements and the § 2(b) defense of meeting competition in good faith to the price discrimination charge. The plaintiff has not responded with affidavits and depositions or taken other steps to create any "genuine issue as to any material fact", Rule 56(c), Fed. R. Civ. P., and the record reveals no such issues. "When a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this rule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but his response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. If he does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against him." Rule 56(e), Fed. R. Civ. P.
By May 2, 1968, Jones's business was failing. He turned the distributorship over to one of its previous owners who operated it for a month longer, then finally shut it down completely.1 Now Jones seeks treble damages for the loss of sales and the loss of his investment in the distributorship. He accuses Borden of violating the Clayton Act as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 13 (a) & (c).2
Borden responds that its discounting activities had no adverse effect on competition,3 did not cause Jones's injury,4 and, in any event, were protected by the § 2(b) defense that
[1] Such an exclusive arrangement could involve both a violation of Section 2(a) and Section 2(c) of the Clayton Act as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act. * * *
What Jones does contend now is that Borden violated § 2(a) and (c) of the Robinson-Patman Act. Section 2(a), prohibiting price discrimination, is subject to the § 2(b) defense of meeting competition. We discuss Borden's defenses under this section in the next part of this opinion. Section 2(c) prohibits the paying or granting of "anything of value as a commission, brokerage, or other compensation, or any allowance or discount in lieu thereof". It is very difficult to see how the arrangements here could fit into the pseudo-brokerage or even commercial bribery arrangements that Congress sought to curtail through § 2(c). Rangen, Inc. v. Sterling Nelson & Sons, 9 Cir. 1965, 351 F.2d 851, 856. At any rate, the uncontested affidavits that no such arrangements existed sustain the grant of summary judgment in this respect.
Jones argues that Borden's § 2(b) defense does not justify summary judgment because "justification by and the good faith of the appellee in its actions is but a question of fact". The statement is unobjectionable but it does not prove that summary judgment was incorrectly granted. It is true that Borden has the burden of making out its § 2(b) defense. But it succeeds in establishing the facts to make out the defense, then § 2(b) "afford [s] an absolute defense to a charge of violating § 2(a), notwithstanding the existence of the statutorily prohibited anticompetitive effect". FTC v. Sun Oil Company, 1963, 371 U.S. 505, 514, 83 S. Ct. 358, 9 L. Ed. 2d 466, 475. Thus, the question we must resolve is whether there are any "genuine issue [s] as to [the] material fact [s]" which Borden must develop to sustain its defense.
FTC v. A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company, 1945, 324 U.S. 746, 759-760, 65 S. Ct. 971, 977, 89 L. Ed. 1338, 1347. We summarized that burden as follows:
The uncontradicted evidence here shows that the Metzger distributor from whom Jones purchased the business had been granting a two-cent discount (above and beyond the twenty percent in the market) on every half-gallon of milk. One of Jones's predecessors stated by affidavit that since February 1967 the business had granted the discount to the Everybody Stores, the Bill Sears Stores, the A. L. Davis Stores, and two small independent grocers. The testimony of another partner indicates another discount originating even earlier. In return, Everybody and Davis did not handle competing brands of 2% milk. (In June 1967 the two-cent discount was changed to a discount of 1½ percent of the gross sales per month.) Everybody's owner stated by affidavit that when he received this discount he discontinued Borden's 2% milk not to restock it until six months later when Borden granted Everybody a discount. At Davis, Borden's display space was reduced and its sales fell sharply.
It is true that " [w]e look at the record on summary judgment in the light most favorable to * * * the party opposing the motion". Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, 1963, 368 U.S. 464, 82 S. Ct. 486, 7 L. Ed. 2d 458, 464. But in this collection of depositions and affidavits from the plaintiff Jones, his predecessors in the Metzger milk distributorship, Borden's general manager for the Midland area, and owners and management personnel from the retail outlets, we are unable to discover any refutation by Jones of Borden's defense. And Jones's brief on appeal does not point out the conflicts in the evidence.
Finally, we are cognizant of decisions in this Circuit rejecting summary judgment in cases "where motive, intent, subjective feelings and reactions, consciousness and conscience [are] to be searched, and examination and cross-examination [are] necessary instruments in obtaining the truth". Alabama Great Southern R. R. v. Louisville & Nashville R. R., 5 Cir. 1955, 224 F.2d 1, 5; see NLRB v. Smith Industries, Inc., 5 Cir. 1968, 403 F.2d 889, 893; Riley-Stabler Construction Company v. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 5 Cir. 1968, 401 F.2d 526, 527. But the best procedure "for a correct understanding of summary judgment [is to rely] on the text of the rule, rather than on quotable statements made in one or another case". 3 W. Barron & A. Holtzoff, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1232.2 at p. 114 (C. Wright ed. 1958). In examining whether Borden met its burden of showing its good faith in the § 2(b) defense, we observe that Jones had full opportunity to muster all the evidence he could, that he deposed Borden's general manager for the Midland area, and that he did not file an affidavit showing why he could "not for reasons stated present by affidavit facts essential to justify his opposition" to the motion for summary judgment, Rule 56(f), Fed. R. Civ. P. In the absence of any evidence to question or contradict Borden's good faith, we conclude that the district court properly granted the motion. See Miles v. Dickson, M.D. Ala. 1966, 40 F.R.D. 386, aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 5 Cir. 1967, 387 F.2d 716; Moran v. Bench, 1 Cir. 1965, 353 F.2d 193, cert. denied, 1966, 384 U.S. 906, 86 S. Ct. 1341, 16 L. Ed. 2d 359.
15 U.S.C. § 13(a) & (c):
Borden also provides lesser services for a private label than it does for milk under the Borden label. Furr must order in advance the quantity of milk it desires and receives no credit for returns or spoilage. And instead of servicing the display space on a daily schedule, the Borden drivers simply place the milk in a storage vault. Furr employees must look after stocking the display area