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Murcott v. Best Western International8/31/2000
on was considered, Brown expressed concerns regarding "points about the [applicant's] property that he didn't like." After consideration, the board voted to reject the Grand Canyon Motel application.
Murcott claimed at trial that he had "serious concerns" regarding defendant Brown's actions in connection with the application. He expressed these concerns to Best Western's legal counsel. Specifically, Murcott believed that Brown departed from company policy when he visited the hotel and met with the existing competing member. He testified that he raised objections with Brown regarding the perceived departure from Best Western's policies at a board meeting at which he also stated that this departure from company policies could "possibly lead to an antitrust lawsuit." The board denied the application based on Brown's motion.
b. Portland, Maine (Sonesta Hotel)
In August 1994, the Sonesta Hotel in Portland, Maine expressed interest in membership in Best Western. Before the application process got underway, Murcott and defendant Huff visited the hotel to evaluate it. During this visit, both Murcott and Huff met with the owner of the existing Best Western hotel in Portland, who was also a Best Western "governor" for the region.
While Murcott was impressed by the applicant's property, Huff had a negative reaction. According to Murcott, Huff criticized the hotel because it had a number of undersized rooms, rented some rooms on a permanent basis to residents and was near an X-rated movie theater. Murcott also asserted that Huff was concerned with the hotel's impact on another nearby Best Western property. Huff told Murcott that he would not support the application and that he should discourage the hotel from continuing the application process so as not to waste its time. According to Murcott, Huff also stated, "Well, let's say I'm protecting the member." Murcott thereafter advised the applicant that its efforts were futile. The hotel did not pursue the application.
Murcott testified that, in his opinion, Huff's meeting with the existing member in Portland "was outside of the [company's] guidelines." He stated, "I'm not sure that I said anything to him" about the possible violation of company guidelines. When asked whether he had raised any objection to Huff's conduct, Murcott said, " ot in so many words, no," instead expressing his concerns by "long pauses in my conversation and probably the tone of my voice."
c. Romulus, Michigan (Holiday Inn)
Sometime in 1994, a Holiday Inn in Romulus, Michigan expressed interest in switching its affiliation to Best Western. Recognizing that a new Best Western had just recently opened in the same area, the local director of membership development asked Murcott whether he should even bother pursuing the Holiday Inn. Murcott testified that he advised Huff of the situation, and Huff said that they should give the new Best Western in the area "a year or two to get that operation up and running." Accordingly, Murcott advised the local director of membership not to pursue the prospect, and the Holiday Inn declined to file a formal application.
Murcott testified that he never raised any objections regarding these circumstances to Huff or anyone else, explaining, "I didn't see any point in that [i.e., in expressing concern or agitation over Huff's actions]." He testified on cross-examination, "I didn't object in terms of expressing it and putting it into words." Instead, he claims that he "sighed," that there were "pauses in the conversation," that the "tone of voice was resigned," and that he believed these non-verbal cues conveyed his purported concerns to Huff.
M
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