White v. Sunoco Inc.

189 F. Supp. 3d 486, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67772, 2016 WL 2988976
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 24, 2016
DocketCiv. No. 15-4595
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 189 F. Supp. 3d 486 (White v. Sunoco Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Sunoco Inc., 189 F. Supp. 3d 486, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67772, 2016 WL 2988976 (E.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Diamond, District Judge.

This putative class action concerns the availability of a five-cent per gallon discount on fuel purchases made with a Suno-co Rewards Credit Card. Plaintiff Donald White proceeds against Defendant Sunoco, alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. (Doc. No. 1, Compl.) Sunoco has filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay Litigation, relying on the underlying Cardholder Agreement that purportedly requires Plaintiff to arbitrate any claims relating to his Sunoco Rewards Credit Card account. (Doc. No. 19); 9 U.S.C. § 3.1 conclude that the Agreement (and its arbitration clause) governs only Plaintiffs relationship with Citibank, the card issuer. Accordingly, I will deny Defendant’s Motion.

I. Procedural Background

In response to Plaintiffs class action Complaint (Doc. No. 1), Defendant filed the instant Motion. (Doc. Nos. 11, 19.) After the matter was fully briefed, I denied the Motion without prejudice and ordered the Parties to take discovery with respect to the Cardholder Agreement’s en[488]*488.forceability. (Doc. Nos. 14, 15, 17, 18.) Upon completion of that limited discovery, Sunoco renewed the instant Motion. (Doc. No. 19.) The matter has again been fully briefed. (Doc. Nos. 20, 23, 24, 25.)

II. Factual Background

I have considered the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiff and made all reasonable inferences in his favor. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56; Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, L.L.C., 716 F.3d 764, 776 (3d Cir.2013) (“After limited discovery, the court may entertain a renewed motion to compel arbitration, this time judging the motion under a summary judgment standard.”).

a. The Sunoco Rewards Program

Sunoco is a Pennsylvania corporation marketing and selling gasoline through approximately 4,900 retail outlets in twenty-six states. (Doc. No. 1, Compl. ¶¶5-6.) Plaintiff attaches to his Complaint examples of the advertising pamphlets and application materials that Sunoco published and distributed to encourage enrollment in its Rewards Program. (Id. Exs. A, B, C; see also Doc. No. 20, Ex. 9.) According to these materials, the Program offers customers who buy gas with the Sunoco Rewards Credit Card either a five-cent per gallon price reduction at the pump or a corresponding credit on their monthly card billing statements. (Id. ¶¶ 8-13 & Exs. Á, B, C.) Although not stated in the promotional materials, discovery has revealed that some Sunoco stations will not provide the discount “because they are independently owned and operated.” (Doc. No. 20, Ex. 1 at 7.)

b. The Rewards Card

Citibank is the issuer of the Rewards Card. (Doc. No. 1, Exs. A, C (“Citibank, N.A_is the issuer of your Sunoco® Rewards Card Account.”).) Application materials for'the Rewards Card state that Citibank will share information with Sunoco respecting the applicant’s account. (Id. (‘You authorize us to share with Sunoco® and its affiliates experiential and transactional information regarding your activity with us.”). Sunoco alone is responsible for ensuring the discount is properly applied. (Id. ¶20 (“[Cjustomer service confirmed that Sunoco is responsible for ensuring that-the 5<t/gallon discount is properly applied.”).) Moreover, a cardholder must pay any card balance to “Sunoco, Inc.” by mail or online at “sunoco.accountonline.com.” (Doc. No. 23, Ex. C, Plaintiffs Account Statements.) Any billing or customer service inquiries, however, should be directed to “Sunoco, Inc.” at what appears to be Citibank’s South Dakota address. (Id.)

Sunoco admits that it is not a corporate affiliate of Citibank and does not have an “ownership interest” in Citibank. (Doc. No. 20, Ex. 5, Interrogs. 7-9.) Although Sunoco contends that it jointly marketed the Rewards Card with Citibank, this is a disputed fact, which I am compelled to disregard in deciding Sunoco’s Motion. (See Doc. No. 19 at 14 & Ex. A ¶¶ 5-8; Ex. B, Interrog. 2.); Doc. No. 20 at 16 (“[A] factual dispute exists as to whether Sunoco and Citibank do, in fact, ‘jointly market’ the Citibank Card or control the 5<t/gallon discount.”).)

c. Enrollment in the Sunoco Rewards Program

A Florida resident, Plaintiff applied for and obtained a Sunoco Rewards Card in January 2013. (Doc. No. 1 ¶¶ 4, 15.) As alleged, the Rewards Card promotional and application materials “induce[d] Plaintiff and Class members to become (or to remain) Rewards Card cardholders”; but for these representations, Plaintiff and the Class members would not have applied'for Rewards Cards. (Id. ¶¶ 41-43.) After his application'was approved, Plaintiff was is[489]*489sued a Rewards Card, which he used to purchase fuel at Sunoco stations. (Id. ¶ 15.)

Consistent with its regular business practice, when it issued the Rewards Card, Citibank provided Plaintiff with the Card’s Terms and Conditions, including a Cardholder Agreement, a Fact Sheet, and Supplemental Pricing Information. (Id. Exs. A, C (“When you become a cardmember, you will receive the full Sunoco Rewards Card Program Terms and Conditions.”); Doc. No. 11, Ex. A ¶¶ 6-7 & Ex. 1 (“Attached as Exhibit 1 is an exemplar Card Agreement, Fact Sheet, and Supplemental Pricing Information .... It is the Bank’s practice to include a note in a customer’s account records when mail is returned by the post office as undeliverable.”); Doc. No, 19, Ex. D.) None of these documents includes any mention of the Reward Program’s terms and' conditions, however. Rather, the Program’s details are included only in Suno-co’s promotional and application materials. (I)oe. No. 1, Exs. A, B, C.) ' "

On April 30, 2015, Plaintiff emailed Citibank, requesting another copy of his account terms. (Doc. No. 19, Ex. C.) In this same email, he acknowledged receiving the Agreement when opening his account. (Id. (“I seem to have misplaced my sunoco credit card agreement. How do I get another copy?”).) On June 1, 2015, Plaintiff also called Citibank and requested another copy of the Cardholder Terms and Conditions, which Citibank sent him. (Doc. No. 11, Ex. A, Deck ¶ 9.) The record indicates that Citibank provided Plaintiff with only an additional copy of the Cardholder Agreement and Fact Sheet — not a copy of any terms relating to the- Rewards Card Program. (Id.) Although not acknowledged by Sunoco, Citibank recently sent Plaintiff a new Cardholder. Agreement. (Doc. No. 20 at 8 n.l & Ex. 11.)

Plaintiff used his - Rewards Card for more than two and a half years. (Doc. No. 23, Ex. C, Apr. 20, 2015 Account Statement.) The Cardholder Agreement sets out the process a cardholder must follow if he disputes his account statement. (Doc. 19, Ex. D at 7 (“If you think there is an error on your statement, write to us at the address for billing inquiries and correspondence shown on the front of your statement.”).) Before bringing this action, Plaintiff repeatedly invoked this process, communicating directly with Citibank’s Rewards Card Customer Service respect ing the status of fuel discounts he alleges were improperly withheld.

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Bluebook (online)
189 F. Supp. 3d 486, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67772, 2016 WL 2988976, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-sunoco-inc-paed-2016.