Lubbock Glass & Mirror Co. v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.

313 F. Supp. 1184, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11720, 1970 Trade Cas. (CCH) 73,355
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMay 14, 1970
DocketCiv. A. No. 5-423
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 313 F. Supp. 1184 (Lubbock Glass & Mirror Co. v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lubbock Glass & Mirror Co. v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., 313 F. Supp. 1184, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11720, 1970 Trade Cas. (CCH) 73,355 (N.D. Tex. 1970).

Opinion

ORDER

WOODWARD, District Judge.

Prior to announcements by the parties at the commencement of the trial, Defendant moved to strike Plaintiff’s allegations of price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act, 15 United States Code § 13, and moved for entry of summary judgment in favor of Defendant in regard to the Robinson-Pat-man claims. The Court held in abeyance any rulings on such motions and the trial was then commenced and Plaintiff presented its case in full. At the close of Plaintiff’s case, Defendant again renewed its motions to strike and for summary judgment in the form of a motion for instructed verdict.

In regard to these motions, Plaintiff has claimed that the prices at which Defendant sold its goods and merchandise were lower than the prices exacted by Defendant for the same type and kind of goods in other parts of the United States and that this constituted price discrimination under the Robinson-Pat-man Act. In particular, Plaintiff has referred to the sale of- glass, aluminum doors, frames, windows, and related items for use in commercial installed [1185]*1185contracts as being lower in the Lubbock area than in other parts of the United States. It is also Plaintiff’s contention that the dominant nature of these contracts is a sale of commodities as defined under the Robinsdn-Patman Act. On the other hand, Defendant has claimed that the sales of these items by-means of commercial installed contracts are not sales of commodities of like grade and quality as required by the Robinson-Patman Act. One commercial installed contract is unlike any other, Defendant has contended, and any seeming difference in price that might appear is the result of intangibles in the bidding business and in the very nature of the sale and installation contract, not the result of differences charged on tangible items.

After a thorough review of the record, the Court is of the opinion that Defendant’s motions have merit in regard to Plaintiff’s allegations under the Robinson-Patman Act. The evidence clearly supports Defendant’s contentions. For example, Mr. Charles Shepherd, an employee of Plaintiff Company, testified as follows:

Q. Don’t you have listed, after you figure up the price of $752.00, then you put “trip”, $48.00, and it comes to $800.00?
A. That is in the file, yes, sir. But that is not quite the way the job went.
Q. What did you charge the folks?
A. We felt like — we charged them $745.00, I believe, or seven fifty-two, or something. .1 talked with the general contractor, and because of the nature of this particular job, as I have been trying to say, Mr. Milam, each and every job is different, and since this thing here had Therm-o-pane that had to be ordered from the factory, and everything else, it was going to take more than one trip over there to do it and the general contractor assured me that if we could take the trip off there, he would have it all ready and we could do it in one trip and we wouldn’t have to go back a second time.
Q. I see. All right.
A. That is why the $48.00 was in there, sir. It was for more than one trip. We had upped the price in the metal and glass to take care of the trip charge over there.
Q. All right, sir. Now, let me ask you, Mr. Shepherd, it is true in glazing jobs, or installed sales, whichever you want to call it, that each and every glazing job and each and every installed sale is different, is it not?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And each of them is entirely different, or stands on its own bottom, as we might say, using the vernacular, isn’t that right ?
A. I would say each and every glazing job is different.
Q. And no glazing job can be said to be the same as another glazing job?
A. In the technical sense, that is correct, sir.
Q. All right, sir. And even though you might have glass and metal go into each job, the fact that you have installation in it makes each of them different, doesn’t it ?
A. Yes, sir, this is true. (Transcript, pp. 682-684)

This testimony, from one of Plaintiff’s key employees, illustrates that each commercial installed contract, i. e., commercial installed sale or glazing job, is different. Although glass and metal are involved in each job, intangible items, such as installation, weather conditions, the architect or contractor in charge of the job and other intangibles make each job unique or different. The clear implication of these statements is that differentiation in price is much more likely to be occasioned by differences in intangible items rather than by possible discriminating pricing practices in regard to glass and metal.

Even if the glass and metal involved in these contracts, sales, or jobs are of [1186]*1186like grade and quality, each contract, sale or job is not. Furthermore, from the testimony of F. D. Mueller, president of Plaintiff Company, it is clear that each contract, sale, or job is a package deal, involving both material and labor. (Transcript, pg. 266) Material cannot be separated out and bid apart. (Transcript, pg. 266) In fact, from Mr. Mueller’s testimony, it appears that there are many factors involved in a contract, sale, or job. For example, on cross examination, Mr. Mueller made the following replies:

Q. All right, sir. Now, in bidding, Mr. Mueller, and in bidding on jobs it is important for any bidder and for Lubbock Glass & Mirror to know or anticipate what competition ' he may have, is it not?
A. To a certain extent, yes.
Q. And the competition expected or the competitive nature of the market is important in determining what bid he submits, isn’t it?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Before we get into that very much, Mr. Mueller, I’d like to ask you some terms, please, sir, and maybe it might — so we will be using these terms.
What do you mean by “markup”?
A. That is a figure that is applied —We are speaking now—
Q. Of a glazing job, yes, sir.
A. —glazing job. Is a percentage applied to the cost of material and direct labor involved in the job.
Q. All right, sir. In other words, so we can be sure, it would be a percentage factor applied to the actual cost of the material to Lubbock Glass & Mirror plus the estimated amount of direct labor that you anticipate will be required for that job ?
A. Yes, sir, and I would add to that it would still be the estimated cost of material, also.
Q. Yes, sir. I should have put that in because the estimated material cost may not be and many times is not the actual material cost, is that right?
A. I doubt whether it is possible to get the actual material cost.
Q. All right.
A. On a job of any size, anyway.

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Bluebook (online)
313 F. Supp. 1184, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11720, 1970 Trade Cas. (CCH) 73,355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lubbock-glass-mirror-co-v-pittsburgh-plate-glass-co-txnd-1970.