Some cellular phone sellers ponder legal action.Similar suit is about to go to trial in Orange County Small cellular phone retailers say they are preparing to file another big lawsuit in their ongoing dispute with mass merchandisers and service providers. A similar suit is scheduled to go to trial later this year in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana Santa Ana, city, El Salvador Santa Ana (sän'tä ä`nä), city (1993 pop. 129,873), W El Salvador. It is the second largest city in the country and the commercial and processing center for a sugarcane, coffee, and cattle region. . That suit seeks $100 million in damages from several mass merchandisers and two providers - L.A. Cellular and AirTouch Cellular. Like the pending litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. , the planned new lawsuit will charge that big retail stores and providers are deliberately trying to drive the small, independent dealers out of business by selling cellular phones at very low prices. In addition, the suit will allege that promotions for the low-cost cellular phones are illegal and misleading to the public. The suit will be filed within the next two or three weeks, said Jason Harrow, treasurer and spokesman for Cellular Retailers United, a Southland trade group that represents small, independent retailers. Hiring big guns San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. attorney Alexander Schack will represent the group in the suit but Harrow said the organization may also hire well-known antitrust attorney Maxwell Blecher of the downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or firm of Blecher & Collins. Schack did not return a phone call for comment and a spokesman for Blecher & Collins said the firm is negotiating with Cellular Retailers United to work on the lawsuit. The big merchandisers that sell cellular phones and the companies that provide the service deny any wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do and say the dispute is primarily about competition. "We certainly have no desire to damage one of the important parts of our distribution system," said Melissa May, a spokeswoman for Irvine-based AirTouch. "What this is really about is competition. The business has evolved and grown." Steve Crosby, director of external affairs for Cerritos-based L.A. Cellular, said: "The small retailers in other parts of the country seem to be able to compete without resorting to lawsuits. It's a shame they have to resort to these types of things, but we have successfully defended ourselves in the past and will continue to do so against these actions." In recent months electronics and other big retail chains have begun offering cellular phones at low prices when tied to service agreements with the providers. In some cases, the phones are being given to the consumer for free or for 1 cent or $1. Just about all of those promotions have been by mass merchandisers like Radio Shack See RadioShack. , Office Depot Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is one of the world's leading suppliers of office products and services. The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, , Circuit City and The Good Guys. Tie-in merchandising The small retailers say the mass merchandisers have been able to offer the phones for low prices because of deals with providers. They say these deals are illegal because California laws prohibit discounting phones by more than 10 percent, or $20 from the wholesale cost. The small retailers say cellular phones wholesale for between $200 and $215 each. The consumers affairs division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney is investigating the small retailers' claims but so far has not taken any action. Harrow of Cellular Retailers United, which represents about 150 small retailers in Los Angeles and Orange counties, said no estimate of potential damages has been determined but it will be in the tens of millions of dollars. The defendants will be AirTouch Cellular, L.A. Cellular and most of the mass merchandisers in the area, he said. The charges will be similar to those brought in the Santa Ana case, said Harrow. In that lawsuit, another trade group, called Cellular Agents Trade Association, named the two providers and several mass merchandisers as defendants. Among the claims are violations of state law concerning restraint of trade restraint of trade Preventing of free competition in business by some action or condition such as price-fixing or the creation of a monopoly. The U.S. has a long-standing policy of maintaining competition among business enterprises through antitrust laws, the best-known of , unfair trade practices, unfair competition, fraud and deception through misrepresentation misrepresentation In law, any false or misleading expression of fact, usually with the intent to deceive or defraud. It most commonly occurs in insurance and real-estate contracts. False advertising may also constitute misrepresentation. , and price fixing price fixing n. a criminal violation of federal anti-trust statutes, in which several competing businesses reach a secret agreement (conspiracy) to set prices for their products to prevent real competition and keep the public from benefiting from price competition. . |
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