April 24, 2014—A proposed injunction by Florida shop owner Ray Gunder that aimed to block State Farm Insurance’s rollout of the PartsTrader parts procurement system in Florida was never filed in Polk County (Fla.) Court as was previously reported by multiple news outlets and industry associations last fall.
Attorney John Eaves Jr. announced in November at an industry meeting in Florida that an injunction was being filed on behalf of Gunder. The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Illinois later issued a release stating that the injunction was filed on Nov. 20.
The injunction was never filed.
A. Brent Geohagan, Gunder's attorney, told FenderBender on Thursday that "[d]ue to certain tactical considerations and the potential inclusion of other parties, the lawsuit against State Farm with regard to PartsTrader was and has been put on hold temporarily and has not yet been filed as was otherwise originally intended to be done in November/December of last year.”
"There was no reason to rush it," Geohagan said when reached by phone. "There was an avalanche of other parties that wanted to get involved. ... Then there were some other tactical considerations that went into it that we felt, right now, it was better to put it on hold."
Geohagan still expects the injunction to be filed, but is uncertain of the date.
"The lawsuit has been put together since November, and I represented to [Eaves] that we would be filing it," Geohagan said of the miscommunication regarding the announcement last fall. "I'm focused on the legal aspect and what needs to be done, and from a tactical standpoint, I was the one to make the tactical decision not to file."
