Omega Environmental Loses High-Court Antitrust Bid

WASHINGTON - Bothell-based Omega Environmental, a troubled supplier of service-station equipment, lost a U.S. Supreme Court bid to revive a $27 million antitrust verdict against Gilbarco.

The high court today refused to review an appeals court decision that threw out the 1995 verdict.

Omega charged Gilbarco, the top U.S. supplier of gasoline pumps, broke the law by preventing companies that distribute its products from also offering pumps made by rival companies.

Gilbarco, citing that policy, cut off sales to two equipment stores owned by Omega, a move that undermined Omega's expansion plans and helped send the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in May 1997. Omega had planned to acquire distributors with contracts with each of the four largest pump manufacturers, turning itself into a one-stop-shopping outlet for service stations.

A federal jury in Seattle sided with Omega, saying Gilbarco's exclusive-dealing practices likely undermined competition. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, reversed the jury in a 2-1 decision last year, saying the evidence didn't support Omega's charges.

Among other things, the court pointed to declining prices for gas pumps and the ability of service stations to buy directly from manufacturers as evidence that Gilbarco's business practices weren't undermining competition.

Omega argued unsuccessfully that the appeals court judges didn't give enough deference to the jury's factual findings.