Opinion ID: 199388
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Concealment of Doubts about Refired ADVANCER

Text: 38 Wellons argues that the Massachusetts Appeals Court's decision in VMark, supra, requires, based on the existence of ten elements, a finding of Chapter 93A liability here. We have carefully reviewed these arguments and reject them. This case is factually distinguishable from VMark. There, VMark had, inter alia, failed to mention past problems with the software it was licensing to EMC when that software was used with the particular hardware contemplated by EMC. See 642 N.E.2d at 592. VMark never explicitly communicated to EMC any of these problems; it instead assured EMC that there would be no serious performance or conversion problems. Id. Moreover, VMark encouraged EMC to act quickly by offering EMC a twenty percent discount on the license fee if it signed the agreement before a certain date. Id. 39 Here, in contrast to VMark, Saint-Gobain never made glowing or unqualified recommendations about the ability of the tubes to perform in the prototype facilities. Uncertainties -- which Saint-Gobain raised at the outset -- were openly discussed and were well-known to Wellons and to Georgia-Pacific. Saint-Gobain told Wellons from the beginning that refired ADVANCER had not previously been used for heat exchangers, let alone the type anticipated at the Mt. Hope and Brookneal facilities. Cf. Underwood v. Risman, 605 N.E.2d 832, 835 (Mass. 1993) (There is no [Chapter 93A] liability for failing to disclose what a person does not know.). Saint-Gobain also communicated its concern that ADVANCER was more porous than CRYSTAR. Saint Gobain's proposal to use CRYSTAR which it was more confident would perform without failure -- was rejected by Wellons for cost reasons. Saint-Gobain also wanted to perform additional tests on the tube materials, and, following discussions with Wellons and Georgia-Pacific representatives, performed those tests on sample tubes at an existing Georgia-Pacific plant in Skippers, Virginia. The test results were available to all. 8 That the tubes used at Mt. Hope and Brookneal did not perform as promised in the warranty does not itself establish liability under Chapter 93A. 40 Wellons also stresses Saint-Gobain's refusal to acknowledge concerns raised by Dr. Semler about ADVANCER's ability to survive in a wood-combustion atmosphere containing alkali metals at the predicted temperatures, particularly after the tested tubes showed alkali metal deposits. Unfortunately, the district court did not make any findings on this issue. This court, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the ruling, see Arthur D. Little, 147 F.3d at 49 (internal quotation marks omitted), finds no attempt by Saint-Gobain to conceal information. At most, the record reflects that Saint-Gobain was overly optimistic in expecting that there would be no chemical-based problem with the tubes at Mt. Hope and Brookneal. That assessment may have been mistaken, thus exposing Saint-Gobain to liability for breach of warranty, but it is not one that establishes the requisite deceptive or unfair conduct to sustain a Chapter 93A violation.