Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, STATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES—N.D. Cal.: Concert venue not liable for parking and traffic issues concertgoers experienced, (Jul 1, 2013)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

The Oakland Coliseum Joint Venture (OCJV) was not liable for issues that a concert ticket purchaser experienced when trying to attend a concert at the Oakland Coliseum, according to the federal district court in San Francisco (Missud v. Oakland Coliseum Joint Venture, June 27, 2013, Spero, J.).

After attending a concert, the purchaser alleged that OCJV cut services to maximize profits in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL). Specifically, the OCJV allegedly sold out the concert knowing it could not handle a sold out crowd, stranded ticketholders in traffic for hours, prevented any disaster relief first responders from accessing the Coliseum, and prevented any evacuation of the Coliseum that could have become necessary.

A district court held that the purchaser did not have standing to assert the UCL claim under the fraudulent prong because she did not allege that she relied on any unspecified misleading advertising, and failed to plead a cause of action under the unlawful, fraudulent, or unfair prongs of the UCL.

Although the purchaser had standing to assert a claim under the UCL on the theory that the concert was oversold because she allegedly suffered economic injury, the court held that the purchaser lacked standing to assert a UCL claim on a theory of misleading advertising. The purchaser failed to allege that he purchased the tickets, or otherwise suffered economic injury, in reliance on any of the unspecified misleading advertising. The purchaser did not identify any advertisement, just that they must have learned of it through some means of advertising.

The court also held that the purchaser did not plead sufficient facts to state a claim under the unlawful prong. The purchaser alleged that OCJS violated the law by overselling the concert However, the purchaser failed to assert any law that OCJS violated.

The consumer failed to show that OCJV violated the fraudulent and unfair prongs of the UCL, according to the court. There was no evidence other than statements that OCJV made statements that would have deceived the public into believing that they would be able to drive to the Coliseum and park their car regardless of their time of arrival. The purchaser alleged that the lack of adequate parking and traffic control measures created a traffic jam, preventing emergency personnel from being able to use the roads surrounding the Coliseum and putting thousands of people in peril. However, the purchaser made no effort to tether her public policy argument to any specific constitutional, statutory, or regulatory provisions.

In addition, the purchaser did not allege that the business practices were immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious to consumers. The purchaser did not suffer an injury, aside from inability to attend the concert, as a result of the traffic jam. The purchaser did not pled that she could not access the Coliseum using other means of transportation to avoid the allegedly injury.

The case is No. 12-02967 JCS.

Attorneys: Stephen Alter Scott (Hayes Scott Boniono Ellingson & McLay, LLP) for Oakland Coliseum Joint Venture

Companies: Oakland Coliseum Joint Venture

Cases: StateUnfairTradePractices CaliforniaNews