State Oil Company v. Barkat U. Khan and Khan & Associates, Inc. (522 U.S. 3)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 4, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 522 U.S. 3 · 118 S. Ct. 275
- Decided
- November 4, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1997
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice O'Connor
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. Under § 1 of the Sherman Act, 26 Stat. 209, as amended, 15 U. S. C. § 1, “[e]very contract, combination..., or conspiracy, in restraint of trade” is illegal. In Albrecht v. Herald Co., 390 U. S. 145 (1968), this Court held that vertical maximum price fixing is a per se violation of that statute. In this ease, we are asked to reconsider that decision in light of subsequent decisions of this Court. We conclude that Albrecht should be overruled. Respondents, Barkat U. Khan and his corporation, entered into an agreement with petitioner, State Oil Company, to lease and operate a gas station and convenience store owned by State Oil. The agreement provided that respondents would obtain the station’s gasoline supply from State Oil at a price equal to a suggested retail price set by State Oil, less a margin of B.25 cents per gallon. ' 'Under the agreement, respondents could charge any amount for gasoline sold to the station’s customers, but if the price charged was higher than > State Oil’s suggested retail price, the excess was to be rebated to State Oil. Respondents could sell gasoline for less than State Oil’s suggested retail price, but any such decrease would reduce their 3.25 cents-per-gallon margin. About a year after respondents began operating the gas station, they fell behind in lease payments. State Oil then gave notice…
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