Lane v. General Electric

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Lane v. General Electric

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion


                         [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]


UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________


No. 97-1710


ANDREW J. LANE, ET AL.,

Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v.

GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL CORPORATION,

Defendant, Appellee.

____________________


APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Douglas P. Woodlock, U.S. District Judge]

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge,
Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,
and Boudin, Circuit Judge.
____________________

Andrew M. Porter, Isaac H. Peres and Franchek & Porter, LLP on brief
for appellant.
Sabin Willett, Richelle S. Kennedy and Bingham Dana LLP on brief for
appellee.


____________________

March 31, 1998
____________________




Per Curiam. Essentially for the reasons stated by the
district court in its ruling on April 30, 1997, we conclude
that the complaint properly was dismissed.
We add only this comment. The Massachusetts state court
already has expressed a view of the definition and duties of a
"competitor," which view is contrary to that advocated here by
plaintiffs. Doliner v. Brown, 21 Mass. App. 692, 695, 489
N.E.2d 1036, 1038-39 (1986). In the context of this
Massachusetts dispute, we have no reason to impose the
differing view of a court of another state. See Dolton v.
Capital Federal Savings & Loan Assoc., 642 P.2d 21, 23 (Colo.
App. 1981).
Affirmed. See 1st Cir. Loc. R. 27.1.

Reference

Status
Published