CACI 3335 Affirmative Defense—“Good Faith” Explained
California Civil Jury Instructions CACI
3335 Affirmative Defense—“Good Faith” Explained
In deciding whether [name of defendant] acted in good faith in attempting to meet competition, you must decide whether [his/her/nonbinary pronoun/its] belief was based on facts that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the price [name of defendant] was offering would meet the legal price of [name of defendant]’s competitor. You must consider all of the facts and circumstances present, including, but not limited to:
1.The nature and source of the information on which [name of defendant] relied;
2.[Name of defendant]’s prior experience, if any, with similar information or with persons who provided the information;
3.[Name of defendant]’s prior pricing practices; and
4.[Name of defendant]’s general business practices.
[Name of defendant] does not have to prove that [his/her/nonbinary pronoun/its] price did actually meet the legal price of its competitor; only that [he/she/nonbinary pronoun/it] reasonably believed that [he/she/nonbinary pronoun/it] was offering a price that would meet the competitor’s price.
New September 2003; Revised May 2020
https://crowdsourcelawyers.com/judicial-council-california-civil-jury-instructions-caci
Directions for Use
This instruction provides the jury with a general listing of circumstances against which it might consider evidence in the record to decide whether a defendant’s attempts to meet competition were in good faith. The final paragraph eases the defendant’s burden of proof with respect to the “meet but don’t beat” element because a defendant is required only to prove its reasonable belief that its prices would meet, but not beat, a competitor’s prices.
Sources and Authority
•Good-Faith Price to Meet Competition Permitted. Business and Professions Code section 17050(d), (e).
•“The requirement [to ascertain the ‘legal prices’ of competitors] is not absolute. It is merely that the defendants shall have endeavored ‘in good faith’ to meet the legal prices of a competitor.” (People v. Pay Less Drug Store (1944) 25 Cal.2d 108, 117 [153 P.2d 9].)