Chevron settles out Chevron Corp. will pay an undisclosed sum to Honolulu gas dealer and frequent company critic Frank Young, who, in return, will vacate his Kakaako gas station as part of a confidential settlement of two lawsuits.
of court with
rebel gas dealer
Frank Young will give up the
Kakaako station that his family
has operated since 1953Chevron, Texaco win FTC approval to merge
By Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.comIn 1999 the company had sued to evict Young from the Chevron dealership, run by his family since 1953, claiming that Young had failed to operate the station during proper hours.
Young countersued, saying Chevron was retaliating against him for criticizing the company publicly.
Young has frequently accused major oil companies in Hawaii, including Chevron, of overcharging consumers. The company is now battling the state, which filed a $2 billion antitrust lawsuit against it and other oil companies, alleging collusion in keeping Hawaii's gas prices artificially high.
Young declined to comment on the settlement yesterday.
According to a statement issued by Chevron and the dealer, Young must vacate the Queen Street station by Jan. 15 and find a new home for his auto repair business.
Chevron spokesman Albert Chee said the company will continue doing business at the station, but Chevron has not decided whether to keep the site as a dealership or switch to a company-run station.
Chee would not disclose the settlement terms, citing an agreement with Young.
Chevron's suit against Young had been scheduled to go to trial Tuesday before U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra.
In May, Ezra declined to rule the case in favor of Chevron, denying the company's motion for partial summary judgment. Ezra had made the same ruling against Chevron last year but allowed the oil company to refile the motion after Young completed discovery, the fact-finding stage of a case.
In the May ruling, Ezra said summary judgments are meant to eliminate frivolous lawsuits and that the dispute between Young and Chevron should be heard by a jury because of its significance.
Chevron had been seeking to exclude several pieces of evidence from the trial scheduled for next week, including statements that Young had run the station well and testimony that a Chevron employee had told him the hours were not important.
At the time Chevron sued, Young was one of the company's top service station operators in Hawaii, with a 92 percent increase in gas sales in a nine-month period.
The Federal Trade Commission has approved the $46.6 billion merger of Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc., allowing the formation of the world's fourth-largest investor-owned oil company, ChevronTexaco Corp. Chevron, Texaco win
FTC approval to mergeStar-Bulletin staff
Under a consent order approved yesterday by the FTC, Texaco will shed several of its businesses to avoid antitrust concerns, including its interest in Equilon Enterprises LLC, a research and manufacturing joint venture with Shell.
The deal has the approval of 12 state attorneys general, including Hawaii Attorney General Earl Anzai.
"We believe this divestiture addresses the potential anti-competitive effects of the merger between these two powerful oil companies," Anzai said yesterday.
Anzai said Hawaii antitrust officials were initially concerned the merger would give the company too much control of the oil market. The state has a pending $2 billion antitrust lawsuit against the major oil companies in Hawaii for allegedly overcharging local consumers. Chevron and Texaco are included in the federal suit.
Shareholders of Chevron and Texaco will hold separate stockholder meetings on Oct. 9 to seek approval of the deal.