Hilo v. Exxon Corporation

997 F.2d 641 William S. HILO; Mansour Azizian; Mehdi C. Ghassemi; Nabil Helo; Pastor Apeles; Hossain Meftagh, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. EXXON CORPORATION; Exxon Company, USA; Chevron Corporation; Chevron U.S.A. Products Company, Defendants-Appellees. No. 92-56496. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 2, 1993. Decided June 30, 1993. Joseph M. Alioto, San Francisco, CA, for plaintiffs-appellants. Robert G. Abrams, Howrey & Simon, Washington, DC, and Robert P. Taylor, Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, San Francisco, CA, for defendants-appellees. Dimitri G. Daskal, The Daskal Law Firm, Washington, DC, for amicus Service Station Dealers of America. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before: HUG, FERGUSON, O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judges. O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge: 1 We must decide between competing accounts of what Congress intended for preliminary relief in suits alleging violations of the statute that governs franchise relationships in the petroleum marketing industry. 2 * Hilo and all other appellants ("Dealers") are service station dealers operating under franchise agreements with Exxon.…