American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corp.

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American Society of Mechanical Engineers v. Hydrolevel Corporation
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued January 13, 1982
Decided May 17, 1982
Full case nameAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers, Inc. v. Hydrolevel Corporation
Citations 456 U.S. 556 ( more )
102 S. Ct. 1935; 72 L. Ed. 2d 330; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 3; 50 U.S.L.W. 4512; 1982-2 Trade Cas. (CCH) ¶ 64,730
Holding
A non-profit association, for the first time, was held liable for treble damages under the Sherman Antitrust Act due to antitrust violations.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr.  · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall  · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr.  · William Rehnquist
John P. Stevens  · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Majority Blackmun, joined by Brennan, Marshall, Stevens, O'Connor
Concurrence Burger
Dissent Powell, joined by White, Rehnquist
Laws applied
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

American Society of Mechanical Engineers v. Hydrolevel Corporation, 456 U.S. 556 (1982), is a United States Supreme Court case where a non-profit association, for the first time, was held liable for treble damages under the Sherman Antitrust Act due to antitrust violations. [1]

Treble damages, in United States law, is a term that indicates that a statute permits a court to triple the amount of the actual/compensatory damages to be awarded to a prevailing plaintiff. Treble damages are a multiple of, and not an addition to, actual damages in some instances. On occasion, however, as in CAL. CIV. CODE § 1719, they are additive. When such damages are multiplicative and a person received an award of $100 for an injury, a court applying treble damages would raise the award to $300. Some statutes mandate awards of treble damages for all violations. Examples of statutes with mandatory treble damages provisions are the Clayton Antitrust Act and RICO. Some statutes allow for an award of treble damages only if there is a showing that the violation was willful. For example, "up to three times the amount found or assessed" may be awarded by a court in the United States for willful patent infringement. The idea behind the creation of such damages is that they will encourage citizens to sue for violations that are harmful to society in general, and deter the violator from committing future violations.

Contents

In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court held an association liable when its agents appeared to be acting under the authority of the association. Such action is called apparent authority. The court determined that a non-profit association is liable when it fails to prevent antitrust violation through the misuse of the association’s reputation by its agents (including lower level staff and unpaid volunteers). [2]

In the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa, apparent authority relates to the doctrines of the law of agency. It is relevant particularly in corporate law and constitutional law. Apparent authority refers to a situation where a reasonable third party would understand that an agent had authority to act. This means a principal is bound by the agent's actions, even if the agent had no actual authority, whether express or implied. It raises an estoppel because the third party is given an assurance, which he relies on and would be inequitable for the principal to deny the authority given. Apparent authority can legally be found, even if actual authority has not been given.

Background

In 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court held that American Society of Mechanical Engineers (a nonprofit association) was responsible for treble damages under the Sherman Act. In 1971 the engineering firm of McDonnell and Miller requested an interpretation of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code from the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Codes Committee. McDonnell and Miller planned to use the response to show that one of their competitors (Hydrolevel Corp) was selling a device not in compliance with the ASME BPV Code.

The ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard that regulates the design and construction of boilers and pressure vessels. The document is written and maintained by volunteers chosen for their technical expertise. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers works as an Accreditation Body and entitles independent third parties such as verification, testing and certification agencies to inspect and ensure compliance to the BPVC.

Unknown to ASME's leadership [1] the volunteer chairman of the ASME committee wrote a response to McDonnell and Miller's inquiry that was later used by a McDonnell and Miller salesmen as proof of Hydrolevel's noncompliance. Subsequently, according to Hydrolevel, it never acquired sufficient market penetration for sustaining business, and eventually went bankrupt.

Hydrolevel sued McDonnell and Miller, the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company and ASME arguing that two ASME subcommittee members acted not only in the self-interest of their companies, but also in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court concluded that the association was liable even though the ASME leadership 1) was unaware of the action the volunteer chairman took, 2) had not approved the action, 3) and did not benefit from the action. [1] Damages and legal fees paid by ASME were more than $6 million. An appellate court affirmed that ASME was liable because its agents had acted within the scope of their apparent authority.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Association Law Handbook, Fourth Edition (2007) Jerald A. Jacobs, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership.
  2. Professional Practices in Association Management, Second Edition, (2007) Executive Editor John, B. Cox; ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership.