Lane v. General Electric

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: April 2, 1998
• Docket: 97-1710
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 97-1710

ANDREW J. LANE, ET AL.,

Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v.

GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL CORPORATION,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Douglas P. Woodlock, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge, and Boudin, Circuit Judge.

Andrew M. Porter, Isaac H. Peres and Franchek & Porter, LLP on brief for appellant. Sabin Willett, Richelle S. Kennedy and Bingham Dana LLP on brief for appellee.

March 31, 1998

Per Curiam. Essentially for the reasons stated by the district court in its ruling on April 30, 1997, we conclude that the complaint properly was dismissed. We add only this comment. The Massachusetts state court already has expressed a view of the definition and duties of a "competitor," which view is contrary to that advocated here by plaintiffs. Doliner v. Brown, 21 Mass. App. 692, 695, 489 N.E.2d 1036, 1038-39 (1986). In the context of this Massachusetts dispute, we have no reason to impose the differing view of a court of another state. See Dolton v. Capital Federal Savings & Loan Assoc., 642 P.2d 21, 23 (Colo. App. 1981). Affirmed. See 1st Cir. Loc. R. 27.1.