New York, NY: A class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of owners of BP and ARCO gas station franchises and am/pm convenience store franchises. The defendants are BP West Coast Products LLC and BP Products North America, Inc., both subsidiaries of BP p.l.c. (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP), and Retalix LTD (NASDAQ: RTLX).
The case is entitled Green Desert Oil Group Inc. et al. v. BP West Coast Products LLC et al. (N.D. Cal case number CV-11-2087). No class has yet been certified.
The wrongful and illegal conduct set forth in the complaint include the following: (i) BP Defendants required all franchisees to install a new centralized point of sale ("POS") computer system developed by co-defendant Retalix LTD that is defective which in turn, resulted in substantial damages to the franchisees such as lost operation time, lost revenue, lost or inaccurate inventory, lost receivables and cash, and increased operating costs and burdens; (ii) BP's illegal manipulation of gas supply and pricing; (iii) BP's improper direct control of and/or pricing by third-party vendors; (iv) BP's policy of forcing sale of items and collection of fees for which Plaintiffs receive no compensation.
There are over 1600 franchised BP and ARCO gas stations and am/pm stores across the country, all of whom are part of the proposed class for this lawsuit. The Service Station Franchise Association, Inc. (SSFA), which represents a large number of the franchisees, has been instrumental in assisting the plaintiffs in their quest to bring the defendants to justice via this action.
