United Parcel Services attorneys will be busy preparing for trials for the next six months thanks to the tenacity of its franchisees and their attorneys. With the Platinum Shield Association (PSA) announcing today that its trial has been set for February 17, 2009, that will put three jury trials on the dockets for early 2009. Another group, the Brown Shield Association (BSA), has two trials scheduled; one for January 20 for franchisees who bought in to The UPS Store franchise after UPS set up its new model, and March 10 for Mail Boxes Etc. franchise operators who later converted to The UPS Store.
Howard Spanier, president of Platinum Shield, today proclaimed, “This is a key victory for our association and other UPS franchisees who have preserved since 2003. All of us look forward to getting UPS in a courtroom and in front of a jury.”
The three franchisee groups representing numerous franchisees allege that UPS has used every tactic it could to delay the legal process in getting to this point. Spanier pointed to a statement made on Blue MauMau last week by UPS spokesperson Rich Hallabrin, stating that they knew when they petitioned the California Supreme Court that it would refuse to review it, according to their in-house counsel. Spanier said, “This admission by MBE/UPS proves our association’s contention that this bully corporation has been filing frivolous motions to delay facing a jury and being brought to justice for their destruction of the Mail Boxes Etc. franchise brand.”
The long-standing dispute with UPS stems from its acquisition of Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001 and the subsequent changes the Atlanta-based shipping giant made in franchise agreements with franchisees across the country, as well as adoption of new retail price and profit control schemes. Spanier said UPS failed to live up to promises made at the time of the acquisition of Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) and never provided franchisees adequate information on tests of its controversial plans to convert MBE to The UPS Store.
Logo from UPS.
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