Opinion ID: 72503
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The License and Reservations Agreements

Text: First, we address Camp Creek's claim that ITT Sheraton and the Sheraton Savannah tortiously interfered with the License Agreement and Reservations Agreement. A review of Camp Creek's allegations and the evidence reveals that only Sheraton Savannah's role as the owner of the Gateway Hotel and its competition against the Inn can support a claim for tortious interference with contract under Georgia law.16 We must decide, therefore, whether Sheraton Savannah's competition in the Atlanta Airport market constitutes a tort, independent of the parties' contractual obligations. At the outset, it is worth noting that simple competition for guests between hotels ordinarily does not give rise to an actionable tort claim. See Hayes, 541 F.Supp. at 430 (describing the competitive privilege). Camp Creek would have no basis to complain, for example, if the Marriott Corporation established a hotel in the Atlanta Airport area and began competing with the Inn for customers. Camp Creek argues that its franchise relationship with Sheraton requires a different result in this case, citing Hayes for the proposition that once two entities have agreed to pursue business together they may not then tortiously interfere with each other's pursuit of that business. 16 Camp Creek's evidence of misuse of confidential information, an improper change in the Inn's name, and favoritism in the Reservatron system implicates Sheraton Franchise, Sheraton Reservations, and ITT Sheraton. Sheraton Franchise and Sheraton Reservations, as parties to the License and Reservation Agreements, cannot tortiously interfere with those contracts. See SunAmerica Fin. v. 260 Peachtree St., 202 Ga.App. 790, 415 S.E.2d 677, 684 (1992)(collecting cases). Moreover, since we have already held that ITT Sheraton was interested in these contracts and was bound by duties implied thereunder, see supra note 4, we cannot disassociate ITT Sheraton from the agreements for purposes of the foregoing analysis. ITT Sheraton, therefore, is not a stranger to the contracts, and Georgia law precludes a finding of tortious interference with the License and Reservations Agreements. Id. 19 See also DeLong Equip. Co. v. Washington Mills Abrasive Co., 887 F.2d 1499, 1518-19 (11th Cir.1989) (privilege defense unavailable where interference is achieved by violating a confidential relationship). The Hayes court did indeed reject the invocation of the competitive privilege in a case where one of the principals in a two-person partnership contacted his partner's clients in an attempt to discredit him and deprive him of their business. See Hayes, 541 F.Supp. at 430-31. A franchise relationship, however, is distinguishable from the partnership at issue in the Hayes case. See Capital Ford Truck Sales, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 819 F.Supp. 1555, 1579 (N.D.Ga.1992) (collecting cases that find no fiduciary relationship between franchisor and franchisee). The agreements establishing the franchise relationship in this case make it very clear that Camp Creek is only one of a vast number of hotels in the Sheraton system and that Sheraton and Camp Creek are not engaged in a partnership to pursue business in the Atlanta Airport market.17 Moreover, Camp Creek has failed to provide any evidence of unique circumstances that might support the proposition that the parties intended to create a confidential or fiduciary relationship.18 See Allen v. Hub Cap Heaven, Inc., 225 Ga.App. 533, 484 S.E.2d 259, 264 (1997) (standard franchise relationship does not present a fiduciary relationship); Kienel v. Lanier, 190 Ga.App. 201, 378 S.E.2d 359, 361 (1989) (no fiduciary relationship where parties' agreement provided for the pursuit of separate business objectives). Although we have held that a reasonable jury could find that Sheraton's competition against Camp Creek violated the contractual obligations between the parties, we decline to convert such a claim into an independent claim for tort. We hold that Sheraton's choice to compete against 17 In fact, paragraph eight of the License Agreement expressly disclaims any such partnership. 18 This conclusion also disposes of Camp Creek's claim for unfair competition under Georgia common law (Count V), which depends on the argument that Sheraton abused and exploited a confidential relationship between the parties. 20 the Inn was subject to the competitive privilege and was not improper or wrongful in the sense used in Georgia's cases on tortious interference with contract. We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on this issue.