Court Opinion

ID: 9467379
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:47:32.284416+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:19.167967
License: Public Domain

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
It is an undisputed tenet in the allocation of the judge/jury functions that a trial court cannot pass upon the weight or credibility of the evidence in ruling on a motion for a directed verdict. Brady v. Southern Railway, 320 U.S. 476, 479-80, 64 S.Ct. 232, 234, 88 L.Ed. 239 (1943); Burchill v. Kearney-National Corp., 468 F.2d 384 (3d Cir. 1972). A fortiori, the appellate court is bound by the same limitation on review. Continental Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon Corp., 370 U.S. 690, 696-97, 82 S.Ct. 1404, 1409, 8 L.Ed.2d 777 (1962). I dissent from the majority’s affirmance of the directed verdict on plaintiffs’ Sherman Act § 1 count for two reasons. I believe that both the trial court and the majority have arrogated to themselves the jury’s function of determining which inferences can reasonably be drawn from the evidence before it. But my disagreement with the majority goes deeper than whether the trial court overstepped the permissible boundary in this case, admittedly an ad hoc determination. More ■ significantly, I also disagree with the majority in its restrictive interpretation as to the quantum of evidence needed to bring action within § 1 of the Sherman Act. I believe the majority retreats from prior decisions of this court, disregards the realities of market behavior, and ignores the virtual impossibility of producing direct evidence of unlawful combinations. I fear that the majority’s decision will unduly hamper plaintiffs in their ability to conduct this type of antitrust litigation.
I.
A.
Sweeney was a distributor of gasoline to discount stations, some of which he owned or operated, usually referred to in market jargon as “price-cutters.” While price-cutters selling non-branded products are not well-regarded by their competitors, Sweeney’s reputation among its competitors was even lower because it and the stations to which it sold price-cut a branded product, Texaco gasoline. Under the economic theory upon which the antitrust laws are based, Sweeney’s competitors should have sought to meet its competition in the marketplace. As a practical matter, however, we know that displeased competitors may attempt to thwart a discounter’s price competition by a much more direct route. They may seek to thrust at the jugular of that competition by complaints to their mutual supplier, in an attempt to induce the supplier to take action to control or coerce the “offensive” market behavior or to cut the discounter out of the market altogether by terminating its source of supply.
The case law is replete with instances of such action by a discounter’s competitors. For example, franchised General Motors dealers sought to avert the competition from discount outlets of General Motors *124cars by resorting to the “ultimate power” of the supplier, and enlisting General Motors’ aid. United States v. General Motors Corp., 384 U.S. 127, 136, 86 S.Ct. 1321, 1326, 16 L.Ed.2d 415 (1966). Another illustration appears in Uniroyal, Inc. v. Jetco Auto Service, Inc., 461 F.Supp. 350, 354-55 (S.D.N.Y. 1978), where complaints from a franchised dealer of Uniroyal tires about price competition from a competing franchised dealer led to Uniroyal’s decision to terminate the price-cutter.
Most such cases have been decided on the issue whether the circumstances warrant application of the per se approach, an issue not before us on this appeal. However, until now, there has not been any serious question in this circuit that the competitors’ complaints to the supplier about the discounter’s market behavior and the supplier’s action in response thereto are sufficient to constitute the “combination”1 necessary to bring the matter within the scope of section 1 of the Sherman Act. In Cernuto, Inc. v. United Cabinet Corp., 595 F.2d 164 (3d Cir. 1979), we recognized that when a manufacturer takes action at the behest of a customer, such action can no longer be considered unilateral and is therefore subject to the prohibitions of the antitrust laws. In Mannington Mills, Inc. v. Congoleum Industries, Inc., 610 F.2d 1059, 1069-70 (3d Cir. 1979), we held that allegations that Congoleum terminated plaintiff’s foreign licenses “in response to” complaints by Congoleum’s foreign licensees about plaintiff’s excessive competition and to the foreign licensees’ threats to terminate their own licenses stated a sufficient claim under the antitrust laws. Both cases were decided on the premise that action by the manufacturer in response to the customers’ complaints would constitute the “combination” needed to meet the jurisdictional predicate of Sherman Act § 1. If that postulate had not been accepted, there would have been no point to our judgments returning the cases to the district courts for further proceedings.
Now, the majority, holding directly to the contrary, states “that even if appellants had demonstrated that Texaco’s actions were in response to these complaints, such evidence alone would not show the necessary concerted action.” At 110. It affirms the district court which held that “evidence of competitors’ complaints standing alone cannot support a finding of liability under § 1 of the Sherman Act.” 478 F.Supp. 243, 255.
The majority cites no authority to support the proposition that complaints and responsive action cannot constitute a combination or conspiracy under the antitrust laws. The district court relied on four cases to support its acceptance of that proposition. For our purposes, central among the cases cited is this court’s decision in Klein v. American Luggage Works, Inc., 323 F.2d 787 (3d Cir. 1963). In citing that case to support the proposition that something more is needed to create a combination than mere complaints and responsive action, the district court overlooked the fact that the Klein decision turned on the circumstance that there was no evidence that the manufacturer ever received the competitor’s complaints, which were made to its sales representative and not directly to it. Id. at 791. Under that circumstance there could be no combination with the manufacturer. Thus, the court in Carbon Steel Products Corp. v. Alan Wood Steel Co., 289 F.Supp. 584 (S.D.N.Y.1968), another of the authorities cited by the district court in this case, erroneously relied on the Klein decision in rejecting the inference of conspiracy from the fact of customer complaints and the manufacturer’s actions. Id. at 588. The other appellate court case relied on by the district court here, Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. CX Processing Laboratories, Inc., 523 F.2d 668 (9th Cir. 1975), also contains no analysis of the principal issue which concerns us *125here, whether evidence showing complaints and responsive action constitutes a Sherman Act § 1 combination. In the Westinghouse Electric case, there were no complaints from plaintiff’s competitors about its marketing practices. Instead, the court expressly noted that the calls from competing distributors were not complaints but were requests for a favorable price arrangement similar to the one Westinghouse had bestowed upon the plaintiff. Id. at 674. Hence, that case cannot serve as very persuasive authority for the proposition for which it was cited by the district court.
Instead, in the Ninth Circuit case where a fact situation similar to that presented here was considered, the court took a realistic view of the impact of complaints by competitors and the reaction of the manufacturer/supplier. In Girardi v. Gates Rubber Company Sales Division, Inc., 325 F.2d 196 (9th Cir. 1963), the court reversed the decision of the district court in granting a directed verdict after the plaintiff’s evidence was presented to the jury. In that case, as here, plaintiff based its claim of conspiracy on the complaints of a competitor and the responsive action of the manufacturer in cutting off the price-cutter’s source of supply. The court stated:
It seems to us to be clear that if the facts here, as claimed by the appellant, are that Oranges as a competitor of Girardi, the price cutter, induced and participated in action which resulted in Girardi being cut off from a supply of this merchandise, then the case would be precisely within the rationale of United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., supra, for it is normally the competitor who is being hurt by price cutting who is likely to seek coercive action against the competitor who is hurting or likely to hurt him. We would think that a typical case of illegal conspiracy to fix prices would arise from the desire of one dealer to eliminate his price cutting competitor through concerted action with the manufacturer.
Id. at 200.
It is difficult to understand why the majority seriously contends that if a manufacturer reacts to complaints by its customers by cutting off the offending discounter or otherwise hampering its competition, this is not sufficient to establish a conspiracy or combination. A long and unbroken series of decisions has established that action which on the surface appears to be unilateral behavior can be considered to be part of a combination when viewed in light of the surrounding circumstances. See, e. g., Eastern States Retail Lumber Dealers’ Association v. United States, 234 U.S. 600, 34 S.Ct. 951, 58 L.Ed. 1490 (1914); Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States, 306 U.S. 208, 59 S.Ct. 467, 83 L.Ed. 610 (1939); American Tobacco Co. v. United States, 328 U.S. 781, 66 S.Ct. 1125, 90 L.Ed. 1575 (1946); United States v. Parke, Davis & Co., 362 U.S. 29, 80 S.Ct. 503, 4 L.Ed.2d 505 (1960).
Given the undisputed evidence in this case of competitor complaints, it would be a fair inference that such complaints were designed to elicit some action on the part of Texaco. As Judge Pope stated in Girardi., “The very act of complaining carries the meaning: T want you to do something about it.’ ” 325 F.2d at 202. The district court here, however, refused to acknowledge that such complaints might constitute the foundation of a Sherman Act § 1 combination since “[i]t would be inequitable to hold that the mere receipt of a complaint creates an inference of a combination between the recipient and the complainant.” 478 F.Supp. at 257. Plaintiffs, of course, do not suggest that mere receipt of a complaint is enough to turn a passive manufacturer into a conspirator. It is only when the manufacturer responds to such complaints by taking action that the sine qua non of a combination has been created by the addition of another party. Furthermore, the mere fact that the manufacturer/supplier took some action will not suffice to establish the requisite combination unless such action were taken in response to such complaints. However, if it were, then the components of a combination have been proven. See United States v. Uniroyal, Inc., 300 F.Supp. 84, 90 (S.D.N.Y.1969).
*126B.
The district court found, and the majority agrees, that plaintiffs failed to offer sufficient evidence to permit a reasonable inference that Texaco changed Sweeney’s hauling allowance or terminated its distributor agreement because of competitors’ complaints. Viewing plaintiffs’ testimony in the light most favorable to them, which we must on reviewing a grant of a directed verdict, I believe a jury could have found that Sweeney’s competitors complained about its pricing policies vigorously and in great number, that these complaints were of concern to Texaco management, and that Sweeney’s pricing policies and market behavior played a part in Texaco’s decision to change its hauling allowance and ultimately to discontinue its distributor arrangement.
In this case, unlike some of the others where a manufacturer/supplier has defended its actions on the ground of unilateral action, the evidence is undisputed that there were numerous complaints, that they were received by Texaco, and, even more significantly, that they came to the attention of the Texaco officials who made the decisions to take the actions against Sweeney. The majority opinion fails to note the extent or volume of such complaints. Such complaints were far from isolated. Nor did they stem only from an individual dissatisfied competitor. In fact, complaints about Sweeney’s pricing policies by several statewide associations of service station dealers were the subject of discussion among Texaco officials. Furthermore, complaints about Sweeney were made directly to Texaco. Daniel A. Doherty, who in 1971 was the Regional Manager of Texaco’s Philadelphia region and who made the decision to terminate Sweeney’s distributorship, was aware of complaints from retailers and distributors concerning Sweeney’s price-cutting tactics well before he made that decision. For example, he admitted receiving a copy of a memorandum written by Edward C. Enstice, Assistant Regional Manager, wholesale, of Texaco, stating that W. A. Fluhr of W. A. Fluhr, Inc., one of Sweeney’s distributor competitors, had visited Enstice to complain that Sweeney’s low prices were adversely affecting his business. Paul B. Hicks, Jr., Vice President of Sales, U.S., Texaco, who was consulted concerning the Sweeney termination was also aware prior to the attempted termination of complaints of other Texaco retailers about Sweeney’s underselling. Carlos Leffler, Inc., a Texaco wholesaler, had complained in writing directly to Hicks by letter dated September 1971 about Sweeney’s underpricing.
James P. Rodden was a former retail supervisor and marketing representative for Texaco in the South Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania region during the relevant period, and in this capacity was in charge of 60 to 70 Texaco stations. He testified that beginning in 1967, numerous retailers had complained to Texaco about being undersold by nearby Texaco stations, which were supplied by Sweeney. Unlike cases where such testimony is vague and inconclusive, Rodden was able to identify seven such complainants. Moreover, he testified that in regular meetings attended by Texaco’s district manager and the marketing staff, the marketing representatives proffered competition from Sweeney stations as an explanation for lost volume at some of Texaco’s investment stations. Finally, Enstice, the Texaco official referred to above, also testified that in 1971, Texaco received complaints regarding Sweeney’s pricing practices from Texaco retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. Enstice transmitted these complaints to R. W. Smithwick, Texaco’s general manager of sales in its marketing headquarters. As a result, Smithwick subsequently travelled to Philadelphia to examine Sweeney’s marketing area firsthand.
The majority concludes that there was no credible evidence from which a jury could permissibly infer that Texaco’s actions were in response to these complaints. In drawing this conclusion, the majority excerpts some of the testimony on which plaintiffs rely and combs through it to see what weight or credibility can be attached to it. The pertinent issue, of course, is not what the majority deems to be the reasonable *127inferences that can be drawn from the testimony but what the jury believes to be the reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the testimony.
When viewed by the proper standard, I believe that a reasonable jury could have drawn the inference of responsive action. One of plaintiffs’ witnesses, Glenn Murray, who significantly had no connection with either plaintiff or defendant (having left Texaco in 1973), testified to his belief that Texaco had terminated Sweeney because of Sweeney’s competitive abilities as against other Texaco retailers and wholesalers. Murray, a Texaco employee since 1953, was close to the “center of the action,” having been employed as the district sales manager of the Philadelphia district in 1971 and as assistant district sales manager prior to that time. Murray was responsible for “everything and anything” in the Philadelphia district and was thoroughly familiar with Sweeney’s business. Murray’s extensive experience at Texaco and knowledge of the realities of the way in which its business decisions are made lends credence to his conclusion that Sweeney’s marketing strategy, and not customer complaints, was responsible for Texaco’s actions. Certainly a similar inference by the jury was permissible, albeit not compelled. The majority’s disregard of Murray’s testimony because he “did not refer to complaints of price cutting,” at 114, is surprising in light .of Murray’s testimony that Texaco sales representatives complained to him that Sweeney’s stations had a “pricing structure ... lower than [Texaco’s] own retailers were able to price. ... ”
Plaintiff also introduced the testimony of Doherty, the Texaco official who made the decision to terminate Sweeney’s distributorship, who admitted that he was aware that Sweeney’s attraction was “based upon posting a price generally lower than major brand price in the areas,” that its outlets were locations with “a low, highly competitive retail price”, that Sweeney’s “marketing strategy” “relied entirely on having the lowest or one of the lowest prices”, and that Sweeney’s “marketing strategy” was among the elements which entered into his decision to terminate it. The majority places great stress on Doherty’s assertion that Sweeney’s pricing was his prerogative and that of the people he serviced. But the jury was entitled to discount the self-serving portion of Doherty’s testimony (particularly in light of the fact that Doherty is still employed by Texaco) and to draw the inference that Texaco had capitulated to the pressure of Sweeney’s competitors.
The testimony of these witnesses and the surrounding circumstances would support a jury’s inference that Texaco acted in response to the numerous complaints it had received. To be sure, that was not the only inference permissible from the evidence. Texaco attempted to show that the motivation for its actions against Sweeney was the customer complaints it had received, and that Sweeney commingled Texaco’s gasoline with other refiners’ gasoline. But these are arguments directed to the jury, and the jury, acting as the reasonable voice of the community, must decide which explanations are the more plausible. I doubt that we would not be bound to sustain its decision, however it ultimately came out.
The majority’s statement that because the change in Sweeney’s hauling allowance was less than one cent per gallon, it “is difficult to accept” Sweeney’s claim that the change was taken in response to complaints citing price differentials of several cents, at 114, is illogical. The amount of the reduction of Sweeney’s allowance does not go to the issue of whether it was responsive to the competitors’ complaints. Indeed, Texaco may have believed that some reduction of Sweeney’s allowance on its part would permit it to assuage the complaints of the competitors while retaining the business of Sweeney. That Texaco may have wanted the best of both worlds does not foreclose the possibility that its action, in whatever form, was taken in response to the complaints it received. The majority’s treatment of this fact patently demonstrates that it is usurping the jury’s legitimate function.
*128The majority discounts the testimony of Rodden, Doherty and Murray which it cites in detail. Apparently it does so because none of them testified that they knew as a fact that Texaco took its actions against Sweeney in response to the competitors’ complaints. I assume that the reference to “narrative or historical matters” in the learned discourse in Part II D of the majority’s opinion is to the objective fact of such a causal connection, and that it is intended to contrast facts with inferences. But inferences are all that one can reasonably expect in such cases.
Although the majority purports to take cognizance of the difficulty of proving an antitrust conspiracy by direct evidence, the effect of its decision will be to require nothing less than direct evidence of a causal connection between Sweeney’s competitors’ complaints and Texaco’s actions. The district court was explicit on this point, faulting plaintiff because “Sweeney never even attempted to introduce any evidence that Texaco either responded to the complainants or told Sweeney that it would take any action in response thereto.” 478 F.Supp. at 257. It cannot be so naive as to expect that a sophisticated business concern like Texaco will have maintained records which make such a direct causal connection, or that its officers, well trained in the technicalities of the antitrust laws, will testify to that effect. The courts have recognized that “in complex antitrust litigation where motive and intent play leading roles, the proof is largely in the hands of the alleged conspirators, and hostile witnesses thicken the plot.” Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 473, 82 S.Ct. 486, 491, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). See also Norfolk Monument Co. v. Woodlawn Memorial Gardens, Inc., 394 U.S. 700, 704, 89 S.Ct. 1391, 1393, 22 L.Ed.2d 658 (1969). As Justice Black stated in a different but analogous context:
The existence or nonexistence of a conspiracy is essentially a factual issue that the jury, not the trial judge, should decide. In this case petitioner, may have had to prove her case by impeaching the store’s witnesses and appealing to the jury to disbelieve all that they said was true in the affidavits. The right to confront, cross-examine and impeach adverse witnesses is one of the most fundamental rights sought to be preserved by the Seventh Amendment provision for jury trials in civil cases.
Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 176, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1618, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970) (concurring).
The issue of whether a combination may be inferred has been most directly presented in the cases where plaintiff has produced evidence only of parallel action. In Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States, 306 U.S. 208, 59 S.Ct. 467, 83 L.Ed. 610 (1939), the Court affirmed a finding that parallel action by motion picture distributors in responding to a demand by one of their leading motion picture theatre chains with identical and complex counteroffers permitted the inference of a conspiracy. On the other hand, in Theatre Enterprises, Inc. v. Paramount Film Distributing Corp., 346 U.S. 537, 74 S.Ct. 257, 98 L.Ed. 273 (1954), the Court affirmed a finding that parallel action by motion picture producers and distributors in refusing to grant a suburban theatre first-run features did not constitute a conspiracy in violation of the antitrust laws. What is significant about these seemingly inconsistent decisions for our purposes is that both cases were given to their respective juries so that the juries could determine the inferences to be drawn from the parallel behavior. In fact, in Theatre Enterprises, the Court specifically stated, “To be sure, business behavior is admissible circumstantial evidence from which the fact finder may infer agreement.” Id. at 540, 74 S.Ct. at 259 (emphasis added).
II.
The majority’s decision appears to be based on the alternative holdings that something more than competitors’ complaints and manufacturer/supplier action is needed to show a Sherman Act § 1 combination or conspiracy, and that, in any event, the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence that Texaco’s action was responsive to the complaints. Part I of this dissent *129dealt with the latter holding. Even if the majority and the district court are correct that “something more” is needed, a fair reading of the record discloses that there is sufficient evidence of “something more” to permit that issue also to go to the jury.
The search for “something more” stems from the line of cases where the plaintiffs have sought to have the trier of fact infer the requisite combination or conspiracy from mere parallel action, usually refusals to deal, when there is no direct evidence of combined action. See L. Sullivan, Antitrust § 110 (1977). This “plus factor”, as it is sometimes called, has been used in the parallel action cases even in the absence of evidence of communication between the alleged conspirators to permit the inference of a combination from external factors.2 Of course, in this ease, there was direct evidence of communication, and therefore the requirement of a “plus factor” for that purpose is superfluous.
In any event, a sufficient “plus factor” can be found by evidence that the actions taken were in contradiction of the actors’ own economic self-interest. See Venzie Corp. v. United States Mineral Products Co., 521 F.2d 1309, 1314 (3d Cir. 1975). This is the key to reconciliation of the Court’s decisions in Interstate Circuit and Theatre Enterprises. As previously noted, in both of those cases the jury was permitted to decide the subsidiary question of what was in the actors’ self-interest in determining the ultimate fact question of whether there was a combination.
In this case, the majority itself has decided that issue, stating that, “Clearly, by lowering the hauling allowance, Texaco acted in its self interest, and was not proceeding contrary to its ‘own economic interests.’ The change saved it $58,000 per year on sales to Sweeney.” It continues, “This undisputed fact negates an inference of concerted action.... ” At 114 (emphasis added). However, Texaco’s claim that it acted in its own self-interest in changing Sweeney’s hauling allowance was vigorously challenged by Sweeney. Texaco introduced only two studies calculating the savings Texaco would secure by designating Macungie, Pennsylvania rather than West-ville, New Jersey as Sweeney’s pick-up point. The first, showing a savings of about $2,200, was prepared in 1966. It is unlikely that this study, made some four years before Texaco changed the pick-up point and based on 1966 freight rates, was the basis of Texaco’s decision in 1970. The second study, prepared on the eve of the trial at the request of Texaco’s counsel, purported to show that Texaco would save $58,000 from a change in delivery point. It is self-evident that Texaco could not have relied on a 1979 study in making a 1970 decision. Texaco introduced no cost-saving studies that were contemporaneous with its decision to change delivery points, from which a trier of fact might conclude that none exist. Sweeney also argued that Texaco’s failure to study the possibility of reducing its costs by changing the pick-up’ point of Sweeney’s competitors suggests that cost saving was not Texaco’s motivation. Certainly, a trier of fact was entitled to infer from the above that Texaco used the purported cost savings as a cover for its real motivation, which was to meet the persistent and pervasive complaints it had received about Sweeney’s market action.
Even if Texaco had known in 1970 that it would save $58,000 by changing Sweeney’s pick-up point, the conclusion is not inescapable that such a change was to Texaco’s benefit. A change in Sweeney’s hauling allowance would reduce the amount of gasoline that Sweeney sold, and thereby reduce Texaco’s profits from Sweeney’s purchases. Furthermore, it is not at all clear that the termination of Sweeney’s distributorship was in Texaco’s self-interest. Texaco does not contend that Sweeney was a fly-by-*130night operator. To the contrary, Sweeney has been a Texaco wholesaler and distributor since 1958 and, prior to the present controversy, its general relationship with Texaco was good, with Sweeney usually receiving the prompt payment discount on purchases from Texaco. In addition, Sweeney was very successful in its business, to the benefit of both itself and Texaco. It won a contest sponsored by Texaco in 1968 for having the greatest increase in gallon-age among area wholesalers. 478 F.Supp. at 249. And in 1971, the very year Texaco terminated Sweeney’s distributorship, Sweeney was Texaco’s leading distributor in the Southeastern Pennsylvania/Southern New Jersey area, purchasing over 28 million gallons of gasoline.
Under the majority’s view of the law, there are two factual issues critical to the ultimate finding as to whether there was a combination or conspiracy in this case. One is whether Texaco acted in response to Sweeney’s competitors’ complaints. The other is whether Texaco’s actions were consistent with its self-interest. The majority decides both issues adversely to plaintiffs, thus invading the province of the jury.
III.
In its decision that plaintiffs had not produced sufficient evidence to permit the inference of a combination or conspiracy, the majority has failed to make the necessary analytic distinction between conduct which constitutes a combination or conspiracy, on one hand, and combinations or conspiracies which violate the antitrust laws, on the other. Underlying the majority’s out-of-hand rejection of the possibility that there was a combination in this case may be its belief that such conduct does not or should not violate the antitrust laws. However, that confuses two separate issues: whether there was conduct that can fairly be considered to have been joint or concerted, and the standard by which such conduct should be evaluated for purposes of antitrust liability. Consideration of whether antitrust liability should be imposed for business decisions made by a manufacturer in arranging its distribution structure is appropriate in determining the standard by which such action, if joint, should be judged. There may be ample basis for arguing that such vertical arrangements do not always lend themselves to the per se approach, but must be evaluated in the context of the effect on competition. This issue was considered by Judge Adams in writing for this court in Cernuto, Inc. v. United Cabinet Corp., supra. In holding that the per se approach was warranted under facts analogous to those alleged here, he wrote, “When a marketing decision, although ostensibly taken by a manufacturer, is in fact the result of pressure from another customer, such a decision must be scrutinized more closely than solely unilateral action might be.” 595 F.2d at 168. He continued, “if the action of a manufacturer or other supplier is taken at the direction of its customer, the restraint becomes primarily horizontal in nature in that one customer is seeking to suppress its competition by utilizing the power of a common supplier. Therefore, although the termination in such a situation is, itself, a vertical restraint, the desired impact is horizontal and on the dealer, not the manufacturer, level.” Id. His discussion recognizes that ostensibly vertical and unilateral action may, on closer analysis, have precisely the anticompetitive impact which the Sherman Act is designed to avoid. I do not profess to decide whether Texaco’s actions in this case fall within that mold. That was, of course, the ultimate question which the jury was precluded from deciding by the directed verdict.
In a recent en banc decision of this court in another case alleging an antitrust conspiracy, we reversed the action of the district court which had granted a directed verdict based on its conclusion that the only activity which plaintiff proved was unilateral. Larry V. Muko, Inc. v. Southwestern Pennsylvania Building & Construction Trades Council, 609 F.2d 1368 (3d Cir. 1979). We reiterated that looking at all the circumstances, the jury could have found the agreement which the district court was unwilling to infer. In Columbia Metal Culvert Co. v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical *131Corp., 579 F.2d 20, 32-35 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 876, 99 S.Ct. 214, 58 L.Ed.2d 190 (1978), we reversed the entry of a directed verdict in another antitrust case where the district court had also determined there was inadequate evidence to allow a jury to find the requisite conspiracy. We noted that the evidence on which the district court relied was challenged, and hence was for the jury. Implicit in these decisions is the recognition that a mechanistic search for direct evidence of a combination diverts consideration away from the more significant issue, which is the appropriate treatment of such conduct under the antitrust laws.
Certain statutes, such as those designed to produce equality or opportunity to minorities, women, retarded persons, on one hand, and those designed to insure an open economic system for all firms in the market, on the other hand, stem from conscious congressional policy judgments about the way in which our society should be ordered. Courts can, but should not, frustrate those public policy judgments by engaging in judicial interposition through the imposition of technical obstacles to achievement of the legislatively mandated goals.
The need to show that defendants’ actions were part of a combination of conspiracy which falls within § 1 of the Sherman Act must be approached realistically, with an understanding of the various threads from which the fabric of business decisions are woven. If we are unwilling to allow the jury, which brings the community’s experience to the fact finding process, to exercise its own judgment in making the reasonable inferences from the evidence, we will have unduly, and I think unwisely, restricted its function in antitrust cases.

. The majority’s suggestion that “contract, combination or conspiracy” under section 1 of the Sherman Act is one concept, instead of discrete terms, at 111, is simply wrong. It is refuted by the discussion of the Supreme Court in United States v. Parke, Davis & Co., 362 U.S. 29, 43-47, 80 S.Ct. 503, 511-13, 4 L.Ed.2d 505 (1960), where the distinction between agreements and combinations was made.

. In the absence of explicit Congressional guidelines, the courts have been unwilling to hold that consciously interdependent action by firms in a oligopolistic market is an adequate substitute for the “contract, combination, or agreement” required by section 1 of the Sherman Act, although such action creates anticompetitive effects equivalent to those from an explicit combination.