TAMPA, Fla. (BRAIN) — A former Giant dealer, in a dispute that centered on Giant Bicycle Inc. opening up a nearby competitor, has won a multimillion-dollar jury award after a two-year-long lawsuit. But Giant’s attorney, Sheldon Warren, said Wednesday that the company plans to appeal the decision.
And Elysa Walk, Giant’s general manager, also said Wednesday that “while we appreciate the efforts of the jury, we disagree strongly with the result they reached. We fully intend to exercise all of our legal options to correct what we believe to be a decision that was unsupported by the evidence, so this matter is not concluded.”
In a unanimous verdict, the nine-person jury concluded that Giant had induced Fran Kane, owner of Flying Fish Bikes, to order $120,000 worth of bicycles to be sold in the spring of 2013 while — at the same time — planning to terminate their relationship and open up a Giant concept store two miles from Kane’s operation.
As a result, the jury awarded Kane $250,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages after ending deliberations late Tuesday afternoon.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Steven D. Merryday, in a separate ruling, agreed with Giant that Flying Fish Bikes had breached its contract with the California supplier for failing to pay for the $120,000 worth of bicycles ordered from Giant. Kane also had signed a personal guarantee. The judge ordered Kane to pay Giant $109,000 plus interest, costs and Giant’s attorney fees.
Merryday made his decision about Flying Fish’s breach of contract during the six-day trial and informed the jury of his ruling before jurors began deliberations. Kane was unavailable for comment at press time.
Warren said he plans to file motions by the end of the month seeking a new trial and he will also ask the court to vacate the jury verdict before filing an appeal. “We don’t believe the verdict was supported by the evidence, and we believe there were and are very good grounds for pursuing an appeal,” said Warren, whose offices are in Long Beach, Calif.
Kane filed his original lawsuit Oct. 25, 2013, in a Florida state court, but Giant later moved to have the case transferred to U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
The lawsuit claimed that during the years his store had been selling Giant bicycles, Kane had developed a relationship of trust with the supplier, sharing inventory, sales, profit margins and other data with the company. Kane and Giant also worked on strategies to continue the market perception that Flying Fish Bikes was the dominant Giant dealer in the Tampa area, the lawsuit said.
“Giant was well aware of and participated in the strategy of promoting (Flying Fish) Bikes as a dominate Giant dealer and the importance of maintaining that image and position in the marketplace,” Kane alleged in his complaint.
In September 2012 Giant’s representative Geoff Godsey and Kane completed an order for $120,000 worth of inventory. Godsey was well aware that Giant, his employer, was also making plans to design and assist in the purchase of a storefront to be owned by a Giant affiliate or close ally. That store would serve as a Giant dealer located two miles from Kane’s store, the lawsuit claimed.
Giant also intended to terminate its relationship with Kane and that if Kane found out, he would have killed the order, Kane alleged. “Godsey intentionally concealed said information from Kane in order to induce (Flying Fish) Bikes to place the order,” the lawsuit added.
Kane said in the lawsuit that he should have been able to sell the bikes during the spring season. But the location of the competing store and a “precipitous” decline in the service and assistance Giant had once provided Flying Fish during the spring season led to lost sales. Most of the inventory Kane had purchased was unsold when the lawsuit was filed in October 2013, Kane claimed in the lawsuit.
However, evidence introduced at trial established that more than 50 percent of the inventory had been sold when Flying Fish was terminated as a Giant dealer in early January 2013.
Kane, named a BRAIN Top 100 Dealer in 2009, owns two stores in the Tampa area. He currently sells Felt, Raleigh, Electra and Cannondale bicycles.
