Update July 2011: An en banc panel of the 9th Circuit reversed, holding that although the supermarket chains’ profit sharing agreement was subject to antitrust review, the panel erred in treating it as inherently anticompetitive. Because the purpose of the agreement was to support the chains in collective bargaining negotiations, and thus lower labor costs, [...]
Category Archives: Exemptions
En Banc Ninth Circuit Holds that Grocers Agreement To Share Profits in the Event of a Strike Subject to Rule of Reason
July 14, 2011 – 2:33 pm
Monoplization Case Against Pfizer to Go Forward
June 1, 2011 – 9:31 am
Judge Faith Hochberg, District of New Jersey, denied Pfizer’s motion to dismiss claims alleging that it unlawfully sought to monopolize the market for gabapentin products. Pharmacies purchasing the drugs argued that Pfizer violated the antitrust laws by, inter alia, manipulating the patent approval process and filing sham law suits. The court rejected Pfizer’s defenses that [...]
April 15, 2011 – 1:32 pm
The Fifth Circuit panel of Judges E. Grady Jolly, Jacques L. Wiener Jr., and Carl E. Stewart upheld a dismissal of two class action cases alleging that oil companies owned by foreign governments in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) violated U.S. antitrust law. The classes, U.S. gasoline retailers and oil purchasers, claimed that [...]
Conspiracy to Inflate Auto Insurance Rates Not Exempt From Challenge
September 30, 2010 – 10:44 am
Update September 2010: The Ninth Circuit has denied rehearing. The Ninth Circuit has reversed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging that major auto insurers conspired to use inferior repair parts while telling their customers that they were providing premium repair service that would return cars to “pre-loss” condition. As a result of the conspiracy, [...]
Racetrack Simulcast Boycott Case Survives Motion to Dismiss
August 31, 2010 – 10:53 am
Update August 2010: The court granted summary judgment for the racetrack and broadcaster defendants on the ground that they could not question the no broadcast order. The case is still proceeding against the other defendants. District of Maryland Judge Richard Bennett denied the defendants motion to dismiss in a case filed by a racetrack and [...]
Nurses’ Salary Class Action to Move Forward
August 16, 2010 – 2:49 pm
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 [...]
DOT Grants Antitrust Exemption
August 16, 2010 – 2:35 pm
The Department of Transportion has joined the European Union in granting antitrust immunity to a partnership arrangement between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia LAE. Called the OneWorld Alliance, the DOT and EU believe that the arrangement will reduce fares and create additional non-stop options for transatlantic flights. It will also provide additional competition for [...]
Tax Preparation E-filing Agreement Exempt From Antitrust Scrutiny
March 18, 2010 – 1:21 pm
The Third Circuit held that an agreement among tax preparers, including Intuit, H&R Block Digital Tax Solutions, and the Free File Alliance with the IRS limiting the number of free e-filers to 50% of all taxpayers could not violate the antitrust laws because it constituted exempt petitioning of a government agency. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that an [...]
Second Circuit Dismisses Title Insurance Price Fixing Case
February 12, 2010 – 4:32 pm
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 [...]
Labor Part of Union Subsidies Case Is Affirmed, Antitrust Part Will Go To Trial
December 10, 2009 – 10:04 am
In American Erectors Inc. et al. v. Local Union No. 7, Massachusetts District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns handed down an order denying Local No. 7 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Iron Workers’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, largely affirming the jury verdict in the labor portion of a [...]