Dhillon v. Chevron Products Company, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23012 (N.D. Calif. 12-5-00)

Franchisee sought a preliminary injunction to halt the sale of its service station premises to a third party, arguing that Chevron did not offer the franchisee a true right of first refusal under 15 U.S.C. § 2802(b)(3)(D)(iii)(I) and (II). The franchisee asserted that, in order to meet the offer from the third party, it should not be required to pay Chevron for the franchisee's own asset (the goodwill value of the business). Although the court conceded that there may be "some merit" to the franchisee's contention, it was ultimately rejected because it was unsupported by the record. The court found that the franchisee offered "no evidence to either substantiate his argument or eliminate other explanations for the difference between [the] offer price and [the] appraised value of the gas station."