Recent Summary Judgment Decision In FleetCor Case Spells Trouble For CEOs And Disclaimers

A recent federal court decision found that FleetCor, a company that sells fuel card services to businesses, and its CEO had violated the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) Act through a series of deceptive and unfair acts and practices. It is not every day that the FTC sues the CEO of a publicly traded company, and it is even less often that we see a federal court opinion on the topic, so this decision warrants a deep dive.

Background

But before we focus on the decision, we need to get some unusually messy procedural history tied to the AMG decision out of the way. The FTC filed its case against FleetCor and its CEO in December 2019, alleging that the company engaged in a range of deceptive and unfair practices regarding savings on fuel costs. The complaint sought monetary equitable relief under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. While the case was in litigation, in April 2021, the Supreme Court decided the AMG case, thereby preventing the FTC from seeking