In Expedite Inc. v. Plus Bags Cars & Serv LLC et al., Oregon District Judge John V. Acosta declined to dismiss a bid-rigging lawsuit brought by lost baggage delivery service, Expedite Inc., against its rival Plus Bags Cars & Serv LLC. Expedite accuses Plus of taking over a bidding service called DSI and using confidential bid information to undercut Expedite’s bids and direct business to its own subsidiary, Home Serv. Plus’ current motion to dismiss was its third attempt to dismiss the case. After the last dismissal, the judge told Expedite it needed to fix its lack of particularity regarding a vendor information form, lack of reliance, and lack of causative nexus to the alleged injury.
In Plus’ latest motion to dismiss, it agreed that Expedite had met the first condition but not the last two. Plus argued Expedite’s allegations that it would have gone directly to the airlines had it known about the rigged bidding process lacks plausibility. The court disagreed, holding that even though there was a well-established bidding process between the baggage delivery companies and the airlines, that process changed in 2009 when Plus’ subsidiary Home Serv took over the bidding process from DSI. According to the court, this was when Expedite started losing business to Plus, so it is plausible that Expedite would have directly contacted the airlines if it had learned that Plus had rigged the bidding process to ensure that its own subsidiary won the bid
The court also held that Expedite successfully pled its proximate injury element of its claim, which the judge defined as “damage to the plaintiff, resulting from the plaintiff’s reliance on defendant’s representation.” Judge Acosta held that Expedite relied on Home Serv to fairly administer the bidding process because Home Serv held out in its communications that the bidding process would be fair and based on cost, service levels, track record, and regional presence. The judge said that it is reasonably forseeable that Expedite, had it known of the rigged bidding process, would have notified the airlines of the irregularities it alleges, and attempted to negotiate directly with the airlines.
One Comment