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 exemption grounds. The court held that the hospital could not escape liability for anticompetitive collusion merely because it had negotiated its nurses wages through a collective bargaining process.
EC Fines Animal Feed Producers
August 16, 2010 – 2:39 pm
The European Commission fined six chemical manufacturers nearly 176 million Euros for fixing the price of animal feed phosphates during a three decade long cartel.
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 existing alliances. A condition of the approval is that OneWorld make four pairs of slots at Heathrow Airport available to competitors.
Grocery Wholesaler Market/Customer Division Case to Proceed
August 13, 2010 – 4:14 pm
District of Minnesota Judge Ann Montgomery denied the defendants motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds arguing that each instance of higher pricing as a result of a market division agreement re-starts the statute. As a result, dismissal was in appropriate even though the agreement was initially entered more than four years ago. The plaintiffs alleged that C&S Grocers and SuperValu, two of the nation’s largest grocery wholesalers had agreed to divide territories and not to compete for certain customers. The court denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment because it was not clear that the agreement would be per se illegal.
Futures Exchange Predatory Pricing Claim Dismissed
August 12, 2010 – 2:13 pm
Northern District of Illinois Judge James B. Zagel dismissed U.S. Futures Exchange’s predatory pricing claim against the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on the ground the that plaintiff had failed to show that the reduced fees were below cost as required by the antitrust laws. The court held that the fees were above average total cost.
ECJ Upholds Fine Against Plasterboard Cartel Participant
August 12, 2010 – 2:05 pm
The ECJ affirmed an 85.8 million Euro fine against Knauf Gips for its alleged role in a plasterboard cartel, which was part of 478 million Euros in fines placed on four companies.
EU General Court Upholds Fine for Blocking Generic Drug Market Entry
August 12, 2010 – 2:00 pm
The EU General Court upheld the EC’s 2005 decision to fine AstraZeneca for abusing the patent system to delay they market entry of generic competitors for its ulcer drug Losec. The court reduced the fine from 60 euro to 53 euro, finding that the evidence was insufficient to prove wrong-doing in Denmark and Norway.
Class Action Alleging a Conspiracy to Adopt Baggage Fees Moving Forward
August 9, 2010 – 1:43 pm
Update August 2010:The Northern District of Georgia court overseeing what is now multidistrict litigation dismissed the monopolization claims on the ground that the defendants’ conduct could not have monopolized the Atlanta market. The conspiracy to restrain trade claim is proceeding.
In Avery et al. v. Delta Air Lines et al., airline passengers filed a putative class action against Delta and AirTran in the Northern Georgia District Court, alleging that the airlines attempted to monopolize the market by colluding to implement a baggage fee in order to increase revenue and protect each other from lost sales. According to the lawsuit, AirTran and Delta agreed that AirTran would implement a baggage fee if Delta, its bitter competitor, made the first move to do the same; thus, within a month after Delta announced its new baggage fee policy, AirTran announced the same policy. According to the complaint, such collusion by the airlines has had a “direct, substantial and adverse” effect on competition.
Court Dismiss Complaint in LCD Panel Price Fixing Case
July 26, 2010 – 3:59 pm
Northern District of California Judge Susan Illston dismissed AT&T’s claims against various LCD display manufacturers, rejecting the plaintiff’s theory that evidence sufficient to establish a conspiracy to fix prices on one type of LCD display was sufficient to permit an inference of price fixing with respect to other types of displays. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice and AT&T plans to amend.