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4 N.H. L. Wkly. 1 (1977-1978)

handle is hein.barjournals/nhlw0004 and id is 1 raw text is: Y- I -
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Volume I, Number I I age I                                                                           .hlly 6. 1977
Summaries of Supreme Court Opinions
Unauthorized entry not shown by state  not cause the injury. However, if as alleged  Under federal constitutional law, a state
employee's search, under apparent authority  the plaintiff entered into the work in reliance  may regulate matters of local economic
of security officer, of supervisor's desk.  on the representation, his economic loss  concern if there is no discrimination against
Morse v. Personnel Commission, 6/20/77.  would result therefrom.              interstate commerce, a state interest is being
Cleveland, Waters & Bass and Michael C.    We conclude that plaintiff has stated a  served, and that interest outweighs any
Moyers for the plaintiff; David If. Souter,  cause of action.                    national interest in the prevention of state
attorney general, and David W. Marshall for                                      restrictions. The promotion of free com-
the defendant.                             Constitutionality (with respect to issues of  petition through the even-handed exclusion
KENISON, C.J. A state security officer  legislative power, due process, equal from retail operations of in-state and out- of-
was informed by the plaintiff state employee  protection, vagueness and just com- state suppliers is within this realm of per-
that thforedek  of plaintiffse imete  pensation) of proposed legislation restricting  missible state regulation.
that the desk of plaintiff's immediate  retail operations of petroleum suppliers.  An issue is raised as to whether there is
supervisor contained certain evidence of   Opinion of the Justices, 6/201/77. Filing  preemption under the Federal Emergency
wrongdoing. Several hours later the officer m ieoranda: Stacev W. Cole, Executive  Petroleum Allocation Act, providing for the
asked plaintiff if she would accompany him to
the supervisor's desk and show him the  l)irector of N.H. Petroleum Council; Wilfred  equitable allocation at equitable prices of
evidence. She agreed  to do so. They    II. flall, Executive Director of Independent  refined petroleum  products. The Act
proceeded to open the desk and seize the  Oil Men's Association of New  England;  specifically preempts only state laws directly
evidence. Plaintiff contests her subsequent  I)onald .. Stone for Exxon Corporation:  conflicting with regulations promulgated
demotion for this allegedly 'unauthorized  William C. Whittemore for Mobil Oil ('or-  under the Act. Allocation under the proposed
entry.'                                 lration,                                bill would he on an equitable and non-
nty.undisputedthatther                GRIMES, J., BOIS, J., and DOUGLAS J. discriminatory basis, and so long as this
It is undisputed that the security officer  The proposed legislation imposes two prin- standard is accomplished in accordance with
suggcsted the search, and that the desk wfs  cipal restrictions on the operations of oil federal regulations there is no preemption.
opened in the presence of the officer. Even  suppliers in the state: 1) a prohibition on the  There is also a question as to whether the
viewing all the facts and nuances most   operation of retail gasoline stations and 2) a  provision for uniform voluntary allowances is
fvorablyto the cmmit's dnciso   requirement that any voluntary allowan- preempted by the Robinson-Patman Act,
conclude as a matter of law that under all the  ces' (temporary price reductions to dealers  providing that persons cannot discriminate in
circumstances her actions cannot be     to enable them  to meet low-price com- price between different purchasers where the
characterized as unauthorized. The plaintiff  petition) be extended uniformly and that  effect of discrimination will lessen com-
reasonabl  could have, and did in fact   petroleum products be allocated equitably.  petition. Of particular relevance is the federal
believe, alt the officer was authorized to  We are asked whether the legislation would in  -21b)  defense excusing price discrimination
search the desk and that it would be ap-  ny way conflict with the state or federal where the seller shows that his lower price
propriate for her to comply with his request                                     was made in good faith to meet the equally
for assistance.                            Legislative power. The state constitution  low price of a competitor. However, this
This decision does not give license to state  authorizes legislation to prevent the  defense is available only when a seller lowers
employees to rifle through the desks of their  destruction of free and fair competition.  the price to meet the price offered to the same
suploeeri torfwe ou thcondoe aksu on-  The fact that there are other non-conflicting  dealer by a competitor of the seller. Thus
superiors; we do not condone any such con-  statutes which promote free and fair com- there is no conflict between the defense and
duct. However, in the present case, the legal  petition does not preclude enactment of the  the proposed bill,
conclusion  that  plaintiff's  entry  w as  p o o e  il
unauthorized cannot be sustained./Proposed bill.               §/ .   /                 Continued on next page
*                                                                          ]I                 1

Workman may recover on misrepresen-
tation theory for on-the-job injuries where
procurement of workman's services obtained
through false statement by procurer that any
injuries would be compensable under
procurer's insurance.
I)uffy v. Lindgren, 6/20/77. Fisher, Par-
sons, Moran & Temple, and Ronald B.
Willoughby and Edward T. Clancy for the
plaintiff; Cullity & Kelley and John Czeciuck
for the defendant.
GRIMES, J. Plaintiff alleges that his
decision to do certain tree pruning work on
defendant's property was made in reliance on
defendant's representation that defendant
carried insurance for any work-related
mishap plaintiff might suffer. When a mishap
later occurred, plaintiff discovered that there
was in fact no such insurance. Plaintiff seeks
damages for this misrepresentation, and the
issue is whether he has stated a cause of
action.
While the parties were negotiating
whether plaintiff would undertake the task,
they were in such a relationship that defen-
dant had the duty not to knowingly or
negligently make a false representation to
induce plaintiff to enter into the agreement. It
is true that the claimed misrepresentation did

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Dixville Notch: Annual Meeting
Manchester CPA William Steele (second from left) responds to a question during
Maximizing Deductions, a continuing legal education presentation at the Dixville Notch
NHBA Annual Meeting June 23-26. Other panelists were (left to right) Charles DeGrandpre
orf Manchester, moderator, Atty. Stephen U. Samaha of Littleton and New Hampshire Bar
'conomics Committee Chairman Atty. Douglas S. Hatfield of Ilillsborough. More than 8o
attorneys attended this program.

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