A California federal judge held that breach of contract claims brought by franchisees of two ARCO-branded gas stations against their franchisor BP West Coast Products were untimely, and declined to adopt the franchisees' argument that equitable estoppel tolled the statute of limitations.

The franchisees operated two gas stations since 1998, one in San Ramon, California and one in Dublin, California. In 2007 a BP sales representative allegedly approached plaintiffs offering to brand the stations as ARCO gas stations. Prior to signing contracts to convert both sites to the ARCO brand and add mini Markets, a BP representative allegedly projected to plaintiffs $40,000 per month of profits for the San Ramon station.

After heavy losses, the franchisees closed the stations and sued. The franchisees claimed that BP breached the franchise agreements by refusing to allow them fuel pricing allowances and ability to use additional vendors for the on-premises mini-markets. Since the franchisees sued more than four years after closure of the stations their action was barred unless equitable estoppel could save the claims.

The franchisees argued equitable estoppel saved their claims based on a purported oral "Walkaway Agreement" in which BP representatives represented that they would not pursue any claims based on the franchise agreements.

The judge found the franchisees could not reasonably rely on the alleged Walkaway Agreement because the franchise agreements had bold disclaimers on their signature pages saying no BP representative could orally modify or amend the agreements. The fact that plaintiffs received BP's demand for $1.2 million for gasoline, unpaid loans and other payments under the franchise agreements approximately one month after the alleged Walkaway Agreement further suggested that plaintiffs' reliance was not reasonable. The judge noted it would have been unreasonable for the franchisees, sophisticated business people, to expect BP to relinquish its claim to those payments.

Equitable estoppel may defeat a statute of limitations defense when the defendant's promises, threats or representations induce a plaintiff to delay filing a lawsuit. But it is not always successful in overcoming the statute of limitations. This case is a harsh reminder that equitable estoppel may not save a time-barred claim even if based on settlement negotiations between the parties.

Power Quality & Electrical Systems, Inc. v. BP West Coast Products LLC