In In re: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litigation, Special Master Charles A. Legge said U.S. District Judge Samuel L. Conti should allow the so-called direct action plaintiffs, which include retail chains such as Best Buy Co. Inc. and Target Corp., to proceed with Sherman Act and several other claims against some of the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) companies named in the suit, including Hitachi Ltd. and Panasonic Corp. The special master also recommended that the court dismiss claims against LG Electronics Co. and Koninklijke Phillips Electronics NV without leave to amend, and dismiss claims against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. with leave to amend.
The underlying suit is a multidistrict litigation (MDL), where direct and indirect purchaser plaintiffs allege price-fixing among companies that sold CRTs. In their motion to dismiss, defendants argued that because the retailers purchased finished products — as opposed to directly buying CRTs themselves — they were really indirect purchasers and, therefore, lacked stranding to bring a federal antitrust claim, as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois ruling.
The special master, disagreed with the defendants and recommended that the court deny defendants’ motion to dismiss because the retailers could qualify for an exception to Illinois Brick that allows indirect purchasers to bring a federal claim if the finished product they bought incorporates an allegedly price-fixed CRT from “an entity owned or controlled by one of the named defendants.”