Judge: Exxon overcharged gas stations

[MK]

Damn activist judges, always getting in the way of profit and exploiting people (and the environment, but that's another story)...

Judge orders Exxon to pay gas stations

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge has ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay damages to more than 10,000 gas station owners for overcharging on gasoline for more than a decade, a ruling that could cost the company $1.3 billion, an attorney for the plaintiffs said on Friday.

A spokeswoman for Exxon, the world's largest listed oil company, said it would appeal the decision. It took a $550 million charge against earnings last year to account for potential damages.

Under the order handed down in Miami by Judge Alan Gold on Wednesday, Exxon would have to pay damages of 1.3 cents a gallon on gasoline the dealers bought from the company from the 1983-1994 period, attorney Mark Dikeman said.

In some cases the potential recoveries are estimated at more than $1 million, he said.

The suit was filed in May 1991, and Exxon's liabilities were established at trial in 2001, but payments were delayed while Exxon appealed. Those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and with accrued interest Exxon now potentially owes the class members $1.3 billion.

Exxon spokeswoman Prem Nair said the company disagreed with Judge Gold's latest ruling.

"We were seeking clarification on a number of legal issues that we thought were not resolved by the appeals process," she said. "Unless each dealer is required to prove damages some dealers who were not damaged will receive money and we think that's not right."

Shares in Exxon were down more than 1 percent, or 62 cents, at $54.21 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The class action lawsuit involved 10,000 current or former dealers who owned or operated Exxon service stations between March 1983 and August 1994 in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

The dealers sued claiming that Exxon charged a 3 percent credit card transaction processing fee and offered a discount for cash on wholesale fuel prices to offset that, but never delivered the discounts.