Chevron Wins Ruling in Station Rent Suit

Chevron Corp. won a jury verdict in a suit brought by 4,500 affiliates who leased gas stations from the company and were seeking $1.2 billion for allegedly inflated rents. After a two-month class-action trial in San Francisco Superior Court, the jury found no fraud in Chevron’s program that promised rent reductions to dealers who bought large amounts of gas. The case was seen as a threat to the San Francisco-based oil company because of the success of a smaller case on the same issue by 23 gas station affiliates. Those affiliates, who sued in San Diego, won $500,000 in compensatory damages and $2.8 million in punitive damages. “We are very pleased that the jury agreed with us,” a Chevron spokesman said of the verdict, which was announced after the close of trading. The company’s shares rose 13 cents to close at $82.88 on the NYSE.