Opinion ID: 543769
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Legitimate Business Justification for Actions

Text: 41 The defendants also offered legitimate business reasons for the actions that Market Force suggested were evidence of an illegal conspiracy. Coldwell Banker submits that the reason it sent out its policy was to inform other brokers that it would pay a lower fee to buyers' brokers. R.59 at 2. Wauwatosa asserts that the executive vice-president of the MLS told Joann Glawe that firms other than Market Force were acting as buyers' brokers, and that an appropriate way to inform them was to send the policy to all brokers. R.67 at 10-11. If the exchange of information regarding the commissions that the firms would pay is not unreasonable business behavior, then it is not an illegal agreement. Supermarket of Homes, Inc. v. San Fernando Valley Bd. of Realtors, 786 F.2d 1400, 1407 (9th Cir.1986); cf. City of Long Beach v. Standard Oil Co., 872 F.2d 1401, 1406 (9th Cir.1989) (noting that competitors may exchange price information for legitimate business reasons), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1126, 107 L.Ed.2d 1032 (1990). 42