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| EXPE > SEC Filings for EXPE > Form 8-K on 2-Nov-2009 | All Recent SEC Filings |
2-Nov-2009
Regulation FD Disclosure
On October 30, 2009, three operating subsidiaries of Expedia, Inc., a
Delaware corporation ("Expedia") - Expedia, Inc., a Washington corporation,
hotels.com L.P. and Hotwire, Inc. (together, the "Expedia Subsidiaries") -
received a jury verdict in the City of San Antonio, et al. v. Hotels.com, L.P.
et al. lawsuit. The lawsuit is a class action in the United States District
Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, brought by the
City of San Antonio on behalf of itself and a class of 172 Texas municipalities
against the Expedia Subsidiaries and other on-line travel companies.
The jury's verdict found that the Expedia Subsidiaries and other on-line
travel companies that are defendants in the lawsuit "control hotels" under the
local hotel occupancy tax ordinances and are, therefore, responsible for
collecting and remitting local hotels occupancy taxes. The jury rejected the
City of San Antonio's claim for conversion - essentially, that the Expedia
Subsidiaries and the other on-line travel companies had collected a tax and
wrongfully retained the tax dollars - and rejected the claim for punitive
damages.
Expedia is disappointed in the San Antonio jury's verdict finding that the
Expedia Subsidiaries and other online travel companies "control hotels" and are,
therefore, responsible for collecting hotel occupancy taxes. We strongly
disagree with the jury's verdict that online travel companies "control hotels"
in Texas and we believe the verdict is unsupported by the facts of the case and
the law. We believe the verdict is contrary to the plain language of the
ordinances at issue and the clear evidence from hotels that testified that
online travel companies do not, in any way, control hotels.
The final amount of the judgment against the Expedia Subsidiaries has not
been determined. The jury found that the Expedia Subsidiaries owed approximately
$15 million for historical damages through May of 2009. In further proceedings,
the Court will determine, among other things, whether the tax is actually due on
the amounts that the online companies retained for their services and the
amount, if any, of penalties and interest, which could be significant. We are
therefore unable at this time to estimate the final amount of the judgment. We
believe that the jury's decision is inconsistent with the ordinances and the
evidence presented at trial and we intend to vigorously pursue our rights on
appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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