The Sixth Circuit has upheld a Federal Trade Commission ruling that a Michigan MLS service acted anticompetitively in adopting a rule that discount real estate listings would not (1) be transmitted to other public sites that provided access to full commission listings; and (2) listed within the MLS’s default search function. The court upheld the FTC’s findings […]
Category Archives: Cartel Activity
Text Messaging Case to Move Forward
May 22, 2011 – 6:51 pm
The Seventh Circuit in an interlocutory appeal written by Judge Richard Posner upheld the district judges decision in a multi-district litigation to allow an antitrust claim to move forward. The claim alleges a conspiracy among the largest cell phone providers to restrain competition with respect to text messages. Although the complaint did not allege direct […]
EU Household Laundry Powder Cartel
May 12, 2011 – 2:25 pm
The EC fined Procter & Gamble and Unilever € 315.2 million for operating a cartel together with Henkel in the market for household laundry powder detergents in eight European Union countries. The fine on the two companies was reduced 10%, because they acknowledged the facts and thus enabled the EC to bring the investigation to a swift conclusion.
Iowa Cement Conspiracy Case Dismissed
May 12, 2011 – 10:37 am
Northern District of Iowa Judge Mark Bennett dismissed a case filed by contractors and other plaintiffs against Iowa cement companies alleging a broad agreement to fix prices. Plaintiffs supported the conspiracy allegations by pointing to plea agreements in criminal cases in which executives at the cement companies admitted price fixing. The court found, however, that […]
California Drug Price Fixing Case Dismissed
May 11, 2011 – 5:16 pm
California Supreme Court Judge Stephen A. Brick dismissed a complaint filed by a group of pharmacies alleging that several drug manufacturers had conspired to increase drug prices. The case was initially dismissed on the ground that the pharmacies would have passed on any overcharge to their customers, but the California Supreme Court reversed that holding. […]
LBO Price Fixing Case Narrowed
May 11, 2011 – 4:18 pm
District of Massachusetts Judge Edward F. Harrington dismissed the allegations of former Kinder Morgan shareholders in a broad class action alleging price fixing among Goldman Sachs, the Carlyle Group, Blackstone, and other Wall Street defendants with respect to leveraged buyouts. The court dismissed the Kinder Morgan allegations on the ground that they were covered by […]
First Circuit Rejects Martha’s Vineyard Gas Price Fixing Case
May 11, 2011 – 3:48 pm
The First Circuit has upheld summary judgment in favor of four gas stations on Martha’s Vineyard that were accused of fixing prices. The complaint alleged that the prices on the island were substantially higher than those in near by Cape Cod. The court found that transportation costs could explain the price difference, and the gas […]
EC Prestressed Steal Cartel Fines Issued
May 11, 2011 – 2:48 pm
The European Commission has fined 17 prestressed steel producers for operating a multi-national cartel from the 1980s through 2002. The fines totaled € 269 870 750.
Florida Concrete Companies Denied Motion to Dismiss
May 9, 2011 – 4:03 pm
Southern District of Florida Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga denied a motion to dismiss indirect purchasers from a class action price-fixing suit against several Florida cement companies. The complaint alleged that cement companies conspired as early as February 2008 to keep prices high in Florida. The indirect purchasers survived the motion to dismiss because at least […]