Judge Raymond Dearie
Qazi managed one of Finkelstein’s Sunoco-brand gas stations. Distributor Nebraskaland claimed that with Finkelstein’s and Qazi’s assistance, faithless former employee Kalicharan defrauded it of most of the money it was entitled to under fuel purchase discount programs received through deductions applied to monthly invoices for its Sunoco “SunTrak” credit cards, administered by Citibank (South Dakota) NA. Kalicharan, Finkelstein and Qazi settled with Nebraskaland without admitting liability. District court denied Sunoco judgment on Nebraskaland’s claim that Sunoco was responsible for its losses by Finkelstein’s and Qazi’s intentional torts. Discussing the limited control Sunoco reserved to itself in its Dealer Supply Franchise Agreement with Finkelstein, the court held Finkelstein and Qazi lacked actual authority to bind Sunoco. However, the misconceptions of Nebraskaland’s president Romanoff as to his dealings with Finkelstein and Qazi over the SunTrak program arguably showed their apparent authority. Finkelstein and Qazi essentially acted on Sunoco’s behalf when arranging Nebraskaland’s SunTrak participation and fuel reimbursements. Romanoff’s multiple mistaken beliefs could not be disposed of as presumptively unreasonable.
