Joseph v. Sasafrasnet, LLC

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying plaintiff’s request for preliminary injunction in action under Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA) seeking to enjoin defendant’s termination of plaintiff’s gas station franchise, where defendant terminated said franchise after plaintiff had tendered three $22,000 checks to defendant that were returned to plaintiff due to insufficient funds (NSF) in plaintiff’s bank account. Franchise agreement allowed for termination, where plaintiff failed to timely pay defendant for debts owed to defendant, and Dist. Ct. could properly conclude that two of three NSF checks were within plaintiff’s control, and thus counted as “failures” under PMPA that justified termination of franchise.