Opinion ID: 395210
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Boycotts

Text: 36 Finally, Quality contends that defendants' claims practices prevent plaintiff's shop from effectively competing with other repair shops which are willing to perform work at the prevailing competitive rate and therefore amount to a boycott of plaintiff's business. A boycott cognizable under the antitrust laws is a concerted refusal to deal. See, e. g., Klor's, Inc. v. Broadway-Hale Stores, Inc., 359 U.S. 207, 79 S.Ct. 705, 3 L.Ed.2d 741 (1959); Lamb's Patio Theatre, Inc. v. Universal Film Exchanges, Inc., 582 F.2d 1068 (7th Cir. 1978). We can find nothing in the undisputed evidence to support a claim amounting to a concerted refusal to deal. The uncontroverted facts establish that neither Allstate nor State Farm has ever refused to deal with Quality. On the contrary, a large portion of Quality's business is generated by defendants' policyholders and claimants. 10 37 The gravamen of Quality's complaint does not appear to be defendants' refusal to deal but rather defendants' refusal to pay more than the prevailing competitive price for labor and new parts. Although some repair shops which charge more than the so-called prevailing competitive rate may suffer some economic losses, these losses appear basically to be the result of the shops' inability or unwillingness to meet competition. The Darwinian working of competition (which the antitrust laws are presumably designed to foster) mean that high-cost, high-price shops tend to lose business and might even go out of business if they cannot become more competitive. Presumably, this process is in the consumer's best interest (although it may have social costs we think inappropriate to address here). Whatever sympathy one may feel for the body shops in these circumstances, the antitrust laws were not intended to provide redress for losses resulting from noncompetitive prices. Proctor, 561 F.2d at 274-75; Chick's Auto Body, 401 A.2d at 730. 38 In any event, even if there were evidence that either or both defendants refused to deal with Quality, this conduct would not constitute an illegal boycott without proof of concerted action. We agree with the district court, however, that 39 there is no evidence that the defendants have agreed between themselves on the list of shops to be favored or disfavored. Nor is there any evidence that either of the defendants has conspired with other body shops to exclude plaintiff's body shop from competition. Instead, what evidence there is tends to establish that each of the defendants arrives at its list of preferred repair shops as the result of a wholly autonomous process. In short, the court concludes that there can be no dispute that the defendants did not refuse to deal with plaintiff, but merely refused to pay the price it charged; and that this refusal was not a concerted effort, either between the defendants themselves or between the defendants and other body shops. 40 Quality Auto, 1980-2 Trade Cases at 76,697. Under these circumstances, the district court properly concluded that defendants' actions do not constitute an unlawful boycott and granted summary judgment on this claim. 41 For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is, in all respects, affirmed.