Opinion ID: 820495
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Speculative injury

Text: In addition, the bulk of Gatt’s alleged damages are highly speculative. As previously discussed, Gatt contends that had it been able to submit independent, competitive bids in 2007, it would have won both the Police Department and the Transit Authority contracts. But Gatt has not plausibly alleged that in the absence of the alleged scheme, its bids—rather than the bids of some other party—would have prevailed. Presumably, PMC, Vertex, and at least six other eligible Vertex dealers could also have submitted competitive bids. Distributors of other manufacturers’ products, too, might have submitted bids. Gatt offers no reason why it would have been more certain than these entities to win the contracts. Gatt’s purported damages resulting from the termination of its Dealer Agreement are even more uncertain. Gatt alleges that its revenues from Vertexrelated sales and servicing fell from $784,000 (in 2007) to $30,000 (in 2008), after termination, representing a $325,000 decline in its profits. Gatt asserts that, had its license not been revoked at the end of 2007, it would have continued to see $325,000 a year in profits from Vertex sales. But the profits Gatt earned under a bid-rigging scheme shed little light on how much Gatt would earn in a competitive bidding 19 environment. Moreover, Vertex had no obligation to authorize Gatt to sell Vertex products in the first place. It is thus entirely uncertain whether, absent the scheme, Vertex would have entered into the Dealer Agreement with Gatt at all.