Opinion ID: 77297
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts Leading to Litigation

Text: 3 Serra Chevrolet operates a Chevrolet dealership in Centerpoint, Alabama. Serra alleges that GM encouraged Serra to open a satellite dealership, a temporary location where Chevrolet vehicles can be sold, because Serra could not effectively provide service in one location to the large geographic area Serra was assigned by GM. On July 18, 1988, GM and Serra executed a satellite agreement that created a new facility in Gardendale, Alabama. 4 After the satellite dealership opened, Serra surpassed Edwards Chevrolet, another Chevrolet dealer in Birmingham, to become the leading Chevrolet dealer in the Birmingham area. Serra alleges that Leon Edwards, the owner of Edwards Chevrolet, and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) complained to GM executives about Serra's satellite dealership in Gardendale. Serra alleges that because of these complaints, GM began to allocate fewer automobiles to Serra and more automobiles to Edwards Chevrolet in a discriminatory fashion. As a result of the alleged discriminatory allocation, Edwards Chevrolet increased its sales, while Serra lost sales.