Miami Gas Station Owners Pursue Suit against Exxon, Allege Broken Promise.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2001 The Miami Herald

Byline: Jane Bussey

Feb. 26--Miami gas station dealer Alberto Gonzalez was a relative newcomer to the Exxon family when he was handpicked in 1990 to attend the National Dealers Advisory Council, a place for station owners and top executives to play golf, talk business and bond.

"We were wined and dined like you can't imagine," recalled Gonzalez, who owned a station in Allapattah then.

But away from the partying in Houston was a harsh reality for these dealers. Business was not good. Gonzalez and other dealers were losing money.

So when a top Exxon executive admitted to these dealers at the November 1990 meeting of the advisory council that Exxon had not been giving them a promised discount on fuel, Gonzalez saw one reason why business was so bad. Then he saw red.

Other dealers became angry too. Together, they quickly embarked on a 10-year legal battle against Exxon to be paid the discount, and found Miami attorneys to take their case.

Last Tuesday, a federal jury in Miami returned the unanimous...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.