Antitrust Group

Grocers’ Market Allocation Claims Won’t Go To Market

Claims by retail grocers that two of the largest grocery wholesalers in the United States violated the antitrust laws by market allocation have hit a dead end in the case of In re Wholesale Grocery Products Antitrust Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The court has granted defendants SuperValu, Inc. and C&S Wholesaler Grocers, Inc. summary judgment on the claims of plaintiffs...

Court Certifies Chocolate Antitrust Class Action

A federal judge has certified a class action alleging that The Hershey Company, Mars Inc., and Nestlé U.S. A., Inc. fixed chocolate prices and inflated the prices of chocolate candy starting in 2002. The class action is being brought on behalf of 2,900 wholesalers, grocery stores, and other businesses that directly purchase chocolate from the three companies.  The alleged price-fixing conspiracy has resulted in...

Feds Break Back Of Alleged Oklahoma Chiropractic Price-Fixing Conspiracy

The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a price-fixing complaint, settlement and proposed final judgment against the Oklahoma State Chiropractic Independent Physicians Association (OSCIPA) and its executive director, Larry Bridges, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. The Antitrust Division alleges in United States of America v. Oklahoma State...

D&B Faces Federal Class Action Alleging “Pay To Play” Scam

The plaintiff in a federal class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington is accusing leading credit reporting company Dun and Bradstreet (“D&B”) and Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corporation (“DBCC”) of conspiring to use high pressure sales tactics to create a monopoly in the small business credit reporting market. The complaint in O&R Construction, LLC v. Dun and...

Antitrust Enforcers Seek To Slam On The Brakes On NYC Tour Bus Joint Venture

New York City tourists could see lower prices for “hop-on, hop-off” bus tours if the U.S. government and the State of New York succeed in an antitrust suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that seeks to break up a joint venture that has allegedly monopolized the market. The U.S. Attorney General and New York State Attorney General are suing in U.S. v. Twin America LLC to...

Credit Report Complaint Receives Failing Grade Under Twombly Pleading Standard

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has handed Experian and CoreLogic a victory after finding an antitrust complaint against the two credit report companies failed to meet the Twombly pleading standard. As an information repository, Experian collects and stores consumer credit reports.  Both the plaintiff, Credit Bureau Services Inc., and CoreLogic purchase data from...

Taxi Companies Drive By Some Antitrust Claims But Get Flagged By Others

A federal judge in Texas has dismissed several claims but denied defendants full summary judgment in Association of Taxicab Operators USA et al. v. Yellow Checker Cab Co. of Dallas/Fort Worth Inc. et al., an ongoing antitrust case in which plaintiffs allege a group of Dallas Fort-Worth area cab companies created a monopoly to fix taxi stand rates. Judge David Godbey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern...

Advocate General Urges European Court To Get Strict With Parents Of Misbehaving Subsidiaries

The European Court of Justice is being urged to get stricter with parents of misbehaving subsidiaries in an appeal that highlights the controversial issue of to what extent parent companies should be held liable for illegal cartel activities committed by their wholly-owned subsidiaries. Juliane Kokott, the German Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, has submitted a brief to the European...