Daniel J. Murray, D/B/A Big Sky Toyota v. Toyota Motor Distributors, Inc., and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Corporations

Toyota Motor Distributors, Inc. (TMD) and Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS), respectively distributor and importer of Toyota automobiles in the United States, terminated the Lewistown, Montana, Toyota dealership of Appellee Daniel Murray. Murray brought this suit. TMD and TMS appeal from a judgment entered on a special jury verdict for violations of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, section 3 of the Clayton Act, and the Automobile Dealers’ Day in Court Act. Midland Implement Co., a subdistributor for TMD during part of the time at issue, was not a defendant but was found by the jury to have been a co-conspirator.

1. Single Economic Enterprise

Affiliated corporations that are in substance “a single business unit separated only by the technicality of separate incorporation,” are incapable of conspiring under section 1 of the Sherman Act. Knutson v. Daily Review, Inc., 548 F.2d 795, 802 (9th Cir. 1976). Although “common ownership and control does not liberate corporations from the impact of the antitrust laws,” Kiefer-Steward Co. v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 340 U.S. 211, 215 , 71 S.Ct. 259, 261 , 95 L.Ed. 219 (1951), “the mere formality of separate incorporation is…