In Liu et al. v. Amerco et al., First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the dismissal of a putative class action brought against U-Haul International, Inc., alleging that it invited its rival, Avis Budget Group, Inc., to collude on truck rental prices. In her suit, plaintiff claimed that U-Haul’s unfair and deceptive practices caused her and all persons who purchased one-way truck rentals from U-Haul in Massachusetts between September 2006 and September 2008, to pay more for their truck rental. Massachusetts District Court initially dismissed the suit, holding that the complaint outlined the mechanics of the alleged collusion between U-Haul and Avis and the purported effect of the scheme on truck rental rates, but failed to connect those allegations to plaintiff’s situation. However, the First Circuit disagreed, holding that the plaintiff’s complaint is not “threadbare or speculative”, and that the suit included more than enough facts to get the claims past the pleading stage.
This suit follows a June 2010 settlement reached between U-Haul and the Federal Trade Commission over similar allegations of collusion. According to the FTC’s complaint, after finding out that Budget was charging lower rates for one-way truck rentals, U-Haul CEO urged regional managers to either raise prices and encourage Budget to do the same, or lower prices below Budget’s and inform Budget of the reduction to teach it that its low-price policy was fated to be ineffective. As part of its settlement with the FTC, U-Haul agreed to a settlement order, barring it from colluding or inviting collusion with competitors.