SAN FRANCISCO - Nearly two dozen gas station owners in California sued Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp. and Saudi Refining Inc., on Tuesday, claiming the companies conspired to fix prices for 23,000 franchise owners nationwide.
The case filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco seeks class-action status for the plaintiffs. It is similar to another lawsuit filed in 2004 by other California gas station owners that was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The new group of plaintiffs hopes the court will consider a slightly different argument.
Like the previous case, the plaintiffs in this case say chairmen of the three oil companies met privately nearly every month starting in March 1996 for the "purpose of forming and organizing a combination." The lawsuit alleges executives destroyed documents from the meetings, and a now-defunct joint venture violated U.S. antitrust laws and caused artificially high wholesale gas prices in nearly every state from 1999 to 2001.
In a new twist, the plaintiffs now say the venture violates a "rule of reason" governing antitrust matters.
A Chevron spokeswoman, Stephanie Price, said the San Ramon-based company has not seen the lawsuit and she couldn't discuss specifics. She did say Chevron, which acquired Texaco Inc. in 2001, was vindicated last year when Chief Justice John Roberts blasted the previous case for its "very artificial hook."......
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