Opinion ID: 214183
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The AAA Organization and the Member Clubs

Text: The American Automobile Association, Inc. (AAA or AAA National) is an affiliation of seventy independently operated and managed automobile clubs (Member Clubs), including AAAMA. AAA's activities include maintaining a strong federation of not-for-profit Member Clubs organized to achieve the objects and purposes of [AAA] in assigned service territories. Am. Home Assurance Co., 664 F.Supp.2d at 402. These objectives and purposes, as set forth in AAA's Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws (the Bylaws), include serv[ing] the personal and motoring needs of individual Member Clubs. Id. Each Member Club operates in an assigned service area as an independent and sovereign entity chartered under the laws of the state in which it operates. Id. AAA does not own or operate the Member Clubs; does not issue memberships to the public; does not directly receive revenue from members; and does not contract with the towing companies that provide emergency road service. Id. Approximately forty-six million individuals are members of the Member Clubs. These individuals can obtain emergency roadside service anywhere in the United States by calling 1-800-AAA-HELP, the number listed on the AAA membership card distributed to all members. Id. [E]mergency road service is the `core service offering of AAA' and its Member Clubs, and emergency road service is the number one reason members join and renew their membership with the Member Clubs. App. 1123. When a member of one Club is serviced by another Club, the former Club is reimbursed by the latter. Am. Home Assurance Co., 664 F.Supp.2d at 402. AAA coordinates payment through a reciprocal clearing bureau that allocates charges among the Member Clubs. Id. In most cases, the member does not know which AAA Member Club will respond to his or her call or even that there are different Member Clubs. Id. at 407-08. Each responding tow truck and driver designated by a Member Club to provide emergency roadside service displays the same AAA insignia, aims to arrive within a thirty-minute response window set by AAA, and reports estimated times of arrival and actual times of arrival to AAA, all to comply with AAA's automotive quality standards. Id. at 408. Member Clubs must go through AAA's accreditation process every five years or whenever a Member Club is determined not to be in compliance with AAA's rules and regulations. The accreditation process includes an inspection to verify that the procedures, services rendered, documents, and appearance of the Member Club are in compliance with AAA's standards. Id. at 402. In addition to each Member Club being accredited at least once every five years, Member Clubs must submit their audited financial statements on an annual basis to AAA. Id. One requirement of AAA's accreditation process is an evaluation of the automotive services rendered by the Member Club, and emergency roadside services are emphasized within that evaluation. Id. Once accredited, AAA monitors individual Member Clubs' emergency roadside services based on response times and requires certain member satisfaction scores on emergency roadside Member Satisfaction Surveys. Id. Pursuant to its Bylaws, AAA has the right to assign service areas to Member Clubs; approve activities to be undertaken by Member Clubs; make, publish, amend, and enforce rules and regulations defining Member Club services to assure their uniform availability to motorists throughout the United States and Canada; and censure, expel, or revoke the accreditation of any Member Club that violates the Bylaws, quality standards, or any of AAA's rules and regulations. Id. at 402-03.