Peter Pan Bus Lines, Inc. v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.

189 F. Supp. 3d 217, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64910, 2016 WL 2885894
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedMay 17, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 15-30167-MGM
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 189 F. Supp. 3d 217 (Peter Pan Bus Lines, Inc. v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peter Pan Bus Lines, Inc. v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 189 F. Supp. 3d 217, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64910, 2016 WL 2885894 (D. Mass. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER REGARDING DEFENDANT’S PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS

(Dkt. No. 12)

MASTROIANNI, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Peter Pan Bus Lines, Inc. (“Peter Pan”) brings this action against Defen[219]*219dant Greyhound Lines, Inc. (“Greyhound”), asserting claims for breach of contract (Count I) and promissory estoppel (Count II), and seeking a declaratory judgment (Count III). This dispute arises out of the parties’ agreements regarding the pooling of bus services and revenue. Greyhound has filed a partial motion to dismiss in which it attacks Peter Pan’s claims that Greyhound owes past and future commissions for bus tickets sold on Peter Pan’s website.1 For the reasons discussed below, the court will grant Greyhound’s motion in part and deny it in part.

II. BACKGROUND

The following facts come directly from Peter Pan’s complaint and documents referenced therein. See Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar Inc., 524 F.3d 315, 321 (1st Cir.2008) (“When ... a complaint’s factual allegations are expressly linked to — -and. admittedly dependent upon — a document (the authenticity of which is not challenged), that document effectively merges into the pleadings and the trial court can review it in deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6).” (quoting Beddall v. State St. Bank & Trust Co., 137 F.3d 12, 16-17 (1st Cir.1998))); Watterson v. Page, 987 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1993) (“[Cjourts have made narrow exceptions [to the general rule that materials outside of the complaint may not be considered] for documents the authenticity of which are not disputed by the parties; for official public records; for documents central to plaintiffs’ claims; or for documents sufficiently referred to in the complaint.”).2

Peter Pan is a privately-owned Massachusetts corporation with a principal place of business in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Dkt. No. 1, Compl. ¶ 1.) Greyhound is a privately-owned Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in Dallas, Texas. (Id. ¶ 2.)3 In the mid-1990s, in response to a “price war” between the parties, they began negotiating a pooling arrangement on certain routes in the northeast-pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 14302. (Id. ¶ 6.) The parties entered into -three written Revenue Pooling Agreements (“RPAs”) in-1997, all approved by the Surface Transportation Board, which provide for pooled bus service between (1) New York and Philadelphia, (2) New York and Boston, and (3) New York and Washington, D.C. (Id.) In essence, the RPAs assign each party a percentage of miles to operate in the Pool and allocate to each a percentage of ticket revenues from those operations. (Dkt. No. 13, Exs. 2, 3, 4, at 1HI3(d) and 8.) The RPAs also require Greyhound to operate terminals in the region (with four exceptions) and to assume responsibility for the costs relating to the sale of tickets, the operation of the bus terminals, and the accounting work for the Pool, (Compl. ¶8.) In exchange, Greyhound is compensated through ah adjustable percentage of pool sales, the “Internal Variable Station Expense” (“IVSE”), as well as an administrate fee paid by Peter. Pan .'(Id.) The IVSE was “designed to help offset some of Greyhound’s costs to sell, including ticket sales commissions to agents and other third-party vendors, as [220]*220well as the operation of the physical terminals in those places where Greyhound maintained terminals.” (Id. ¶ 11.) The RPAs provide for a 30-year term, and Peter Pan “has based nearly all subsequent business decisions in the region on the continued assumption and reliance that the Pool will continue in operation for at least” that period of time. (Id. ¶ 9.) All three RPAs contain choice-of-law provisions, which state: “This Agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of Texas.” (Dkt. No. 13, Ex. 2 ¶ 24; Ex. 3, ¶26; Ex. 4, ¶ 26.)

In the mid-2000s, Peter Pan began selling print-at-home tickets for its non-Pool routes from its website. (Id. ¶ 26.) In light of the success of this selling option, Peter Pan wanted to offer tickets on pooled routes for sale on its website as well. (Id. ¶ 29.) Peter Pan wanted to ensure it would be compensated for tickets sold on its website in the same manner it was for tickets sold at its terminals and call centers. (Id. ¶ 30.) Accordingly, Peter Picknelly,- Peter Pan’s Chairman and CEO, proposed to Dave Leach, Greyhound’s President and CEO, at a meeting in Springfield in June of 2008 that a sales commission payable to Peter Pan be implemented for all future online Pool ticket sales from its website. (Id.) He proposed a commission rate equal to the IVSE rate, and “Mr. Leach gladly agreed to do so and memorialized this agreement in his notes from the meeting.”4 (Id.) In particular, handwritten “Notes for PPBL/GLI Meeting June 23/24, 2008,” attached to Peter Pan’s opposition, state: “update commission rate to 11.7% for sale of pool tickets [through] PPBL website.” (Dkt. No. 19, Ex. 4.) Moreover, a typed copy of those notes, which has a handwritten notation at the top stating “Sent to Peter, Brian & Ted — for file,” also includes the same language. (Dkt. No. 19, Ex. 6.) “Greyhound began paying the commission to Peter Pan for web sales as soon as Peter Pan began selling Pool tickets on its website on September 11, 2008 and paid a commission for all such sales until Greyhound unilaterally stopped in 2013.” (Compl. ¶ 31.)

In May of 2011, the parties entered into another agreement: a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”). (Id. ¶48.) “The MOU was designed to resolve several outstanding issues between the parties relating to the operation of the Pool and the implementation of Express service on Pooled routes, including the implementation and use of capacity management within the pool.” (Id.) Instead of using the traditional first-come, first-served basis for selling bus seats, Greyhound’s Express service allowed customers to reserve seats. (Id. ¶¶ 49-51.) This “capacity management system” required tracking in real-time all the tickets sold by Greyhound and Peter Pan, so Greyhound would know exactly which seats had been sold at any given moment. (Id. ¶ 56.) “Unfortunately, due to limitations with Greyhound’s software system (TRIPS), it was unable to communicate with Peter Pan’s website and ticketing software.” (Id. ¶ 57.) Greyhound therefore requested that Peter Pan convert its website to operate on the Greyhound software system. (Id.) In the interim, Greyhound proposed that Peter Pan’s customers be redirected to Greyhound’s website for purchase of pooled tickets. (Id.) Peter Pan, however, was concerned that redirecting its customers to Greyhound’s website would deprive Peter Pan of its web sales commissions. (Id. ¶ 59.) Greyhound also claimed it could not track the sales that would have been made on Peter Pan’s website. (Id.)

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189 F. Supp. 3d 217, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64910, 2016 WL 2885894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peter-pan-bus-lines-inc-v-greyhound-lines-inc-mad-2016.