The Kansas City Star triggered a wave of class actions across the country in 2006, when it estimated that expanding gas volumes in hot weather were costing consumers billions in hidden costs at the pump. Now jurors in Kansas City, Kansas, have delivered the first jury verdict in the resulting federal litigation, absolving three retailers at the center of the “hot fuel” mess.
A 10-member federal jury returned a unanimous verdict Monday that retailers QuickTrip, 7-Eleven and Kum & Go did not violate the Kansas Consumer Protection Act by failing to disclose the effects of temperature on the gas they sell. The verdict is a win for Shook, Hardy & Bacon partners Tristan Duncan and Bradley Bodamer, who represented the three defendants at trial.
