Classes of direct and indirect purchasers have filed suit in the Northern District of California alleging that optical disc drives. The complaint alleges that the defendants agreed to charge higher prices and rig electronic auctions to ensure that the certain price floors were maintained.
Category Archives: Class Certification
Class Certified in iPhone Exclusive Dealing & Monopolization Case
N.D. CA Judge James Ware certified a class of iPhone purchasers in litigation alleging that Apple and AT&T monopolized the market for iPhone voice and data services by entering their exclusive agreement. The court dismissed claims against Apple relating to the introduction of software that made phones inoperable.
Nurses’ Salary Class Action to Move Forward
Northern District of NY Judge Thomas McAvoy denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, holding that the allegationsof information exchanges and surpressed wages was sufficient to permit a jury to find both collusive activity and actual anticompetitive effects. The court also denied the one unionized hospital’s motion to dismiss on non-statutory labor [...]
Fines Imposed in Ice Cartel Case
Southern District of Ohio Judge Herman Weber has imposed $9 million dollar fines on Home City Ice Co. and Artic Glacier International for conspiring to fix the price for prepackaged ice in the Detroit area. The fines constitute a significant reduction from the sentencing guidelines in response to the parties cooperation with the investigation. Reddy [...]
Second Circuit Dismisses Title Insurance Price Fixing Case
The Second Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging price fixing among title insurers. The plaintiffs alleged that the insurers manipulated the states-rate setting process to include agency commissions in their insurance rates. Relying on the filed rate doctrine, the Second Circuit held that the state regulators were sufficiently active to [...]
Cable Monopoly Class Recertified
In Behrend et al. v. Comcast Corp., Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge John R. Padova has handed down a win to cable TV customers accusing Comcast Corp. of illegally establishing a monopoly in the Philadelphia area, recertifying a class after Comcast invoked a 2008 appeals court ruling in In re Hydrogen Peroxide Litigation to get [...]
Abbott Settles Tricor Action Filed by States
Update January 2010: Abbott has agreed to settle Tricor related claims filed by 22 states and the District of Columbia in the District of Delaware for $22.5 million.
Update April 2009: The settlement amount has increased to $250 million, and a number of cases filed by various states and the District of Columbia based on the [...]
Thermostat Class Action Gets Certified
In Wright et al. v. Honeywell International Inc., Vermont’s highest court has reversed and remanded a lower state court’s denial of class certification to a consumer collective action alleging Honeywell International Inc. abused its dominant position in the thermostat market. Vermont Supreme Court held that the trial court applied too rigorous a standard in denying [...]
Federal Court Certifies Classes in SRAM Price Fixing Case
A federal antitrust investigation of the SRAM chip manufacturing industry has led to a multi-class consolidated multi-district litigation in the Northern District of California. The case alleges price fixing from 1996 through 2006. Judge Claudia Wilken has certified nationwide classes of direct and indirect purchasers as well as state classes.
Former NCAA Athletes Sue for Publicity Rights
A class of former NCAA athletes has filed suit in the Northern District of California alleging that the NCAA rule requiring athletes to convey their publicity rights during their days as student athletes to the NCAA in perpetuity constitutes a concerted refusal to negotiate a revenue sharing agreement with the athletes.