Texaco, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission

United States Court of Appeals · Administrative Law

Administrative LawFTCFederal Trade Commission Act15 U.S.C.A. § 45(c)appellate jurisdictioncease and desist orderadditional evidenceinterlocutory review

Facts

Texaco was a respondent in an FTC administrative proceeding identified as F.T.C. Docket No. 6898. During that proceeding, the examiner and the Commission made rulings affecting Texaco's claimed right to obtain Commission files and records for introduction into evidence. Texaco then asked the Court of Appeals for leave to adduce additional evidence and effectively to order production of those materials during the ongoing agency hearing. No cease and desist order had yet been entered by the Commission.

Issue

May a Court of Appeals, before the FTC has entered a cease and desist order, intervene in an ongoing Commission proceeding to review evidentiary rulings and order production of evidence under 15 U.S.C.A. § 45(c)?

Rule

Under 15 U.S.C.A. § 45(c), the Court of Appeals' jurisdiction to review an FTC order arises only from a cease and desist order entered by the Commission. On such review, the court may permit additional evidence only if the applicant shows that the evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce it before the Commission.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Pine Harbor Foods, based in Cleveland, is defending an unfair-competition case before the Federal Trade Commission. During the hearing, the administrative examiner refuses to require the agency staff to produce internal memoranda that Pine Harbor says would undermine the complaint.

If Pine Harbor files a petition in the court of appeals asking the court to compel production of those memoranda immediately under 15 U.S.C. § 45(c), how should the court rule?

Explanation. Under the majority opinion, the court of appeals' jurisdiction under § 45(c) arises only from a cease and desist order entered by the Commission. The court may not intervene mid-proceeding to review evidentiary rulings or order production of evidence while the FTC hearing is still ongoing. Any alleged error must await later review if a cease and desist order is eventually entered. (Derived from Texaco, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission (n.d.).)