PUBLICITY A SURPRISE TO PLAINTIFFS IN GAS LAWSUIT

A story in Tuesday's Southeast Missourian about a lawsuit against a low-cost gasoline retailer in Jackson has left many people surprised, including some of the plaintiffs who say they thought their effort to end what they considered unfair competition had succeeded.

The lawsuit was filed in August by seven gasoline retailers in the area against David H. Lemmon, owner of Basic Fuel in Jackson, which has been selling one grade of no-lead fuel for about three years at low prices.

In their petition for injunctive relief filed Aug. 5, the seven plaintiffs alleged that Basic Fuel was selling gasoline below cost in violation of a 1993 state law.

Since August, some plaintiffs say, they believe Basic Fuel has complied with the law, which was the intent of the lawsuit. "We thought the lawsuit was over with," a spokesman for one of the plaintiffs said.

Richard Kuntze, attorney for Lemmon, said his client "clearly never violated the law and never sold gas below cost."In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs listed prices they say were charged by Basic Fuel from January to August of this year. They claim those were below-cost prices.

Lemmon, through his attorney, later asked that the lawsuit be dismissed because the petition didn't state that the plaintiffs had been injured by his client's low prices. The petition was amended Sept. 30 claiming injuries as a result of the low pricing at Basic Fuel.

John Oliver, attorney for the plaintiffs, said he is waiting for information from Lemmon's attorney showing Basic Fuel was not selling below cost."A smaller station can engage in predatory pricing just as easily as a big one," Oliver said.

Tuesday's news article was the result of an anonymous fax that came to the newspaper and was also sent to other news media in Cape Girardeau. It included information about the lawsuit along with a list of four of the seven plaintiffs. The fax included phone numbers for the plaintiffs and their attorney, Oliver.

Calls to several of the plaintiffs today were not returned, except by J.R. Gibbins of Dalton Petroleum Co., who said he had no comment. Dalton Petroleum operates Penny Pincher convenience stores.

The other plaintiffs are DSW Oil Inc., which operates D-Mart stores; Host Enterprises Inc., which operates Wink's stores; J.D. Street & Co., which operates Citco stations; Midwest Energy Inc., which operates Amerimart stores; Pajco Inc., which operates Rhodes 101 Stop stores; and Schweigert Brothers Inc., which operates the Texaco station in Jackson.

The fax said several petroleum dealers, headed by representatives of Rhodes 101 convenience stores, had taken the legal action against Lemmon, and this was reported in Tuesday's story.

Tuesday morning, Jim Maurer and Paul Dirnberger of Pajco told the Southeast Missourian that Rhodes was not the instigator of the lawsuit.

Later Tuesday, the newspaper learned the anonymous fax had been sent by Scott Blank, who with his father, Bob Blank, operates Bi-State Southern convenience stores in Cape Girardeau.

Scott Blank said he sent the fax after vendors at his convenience stores kept asking him about the status of the lawsuit.

Blank also said he believed Rhodes 101 started the lawsuit because he and his father were approached by Mauer last spring to become a plaintiff. Later, Blank said, he and his father were invited to a meeting to discuss legal action. That meeting, he said, was at a Rhodes 101 office.

As for the lawsuit, Blank said if Basic Fuel violated the law, a court would take appropriate action. But if no laws were broken, "then it's just competition."Maurer said today that Rhodes was just one of several gasoline dealers who felt Basic Fuel's pricing violated the state law and decided to take action. He said Blank told him he supported the lawsuit but said he didn't want to get involved because of the likely bad publicity.

Maurer said he was asked by other gasoline marketers to contact the Blanks and invite them to participate in the discussions about the possible lawsuit. Later, Maurer was asked if a meeting could be held at his office. That meeting was attended by Oliver, the attorney.

The Missouri attorney general's office has taken legal action against two large gasoline retailers in other parts of the state, citing the 1993 law's provisions against selling below cost.

The law allows retailers to sell below cost for up to three days.

Asked why a Pajco station near Basic Fuel in Jackson, the Smoke House, was selling gasoline at the same price charged by Basic Fuel, Maurer said the law allows retailers to match competitors' prices.