In Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring Inc. v. The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues Inc. et al., a Florida state court refused to rely on the baseball antitrust exemption to dismiss the plaintiff umpiring school’s complaint alleging that Minor League Baseball violated the state’s antitrust laws by revoking the school’s accreditation to train […]
Category Archives: Exemptions
Sixth Circuit Revives Suit Involving Energy Rebates
July 2, 2012 – 4:49 pm
In Williams et al. v. Duke Energy International, Inc. et al., the Sixth Circuit found that a putative antitrust class action, alleging that Duke Energy Corp. gave unlawful rebates to General Motors Co. and several major corporations, was wrongfully dismissed by an Ohio federal court. In 2009, the lower court ruled that because of the filed-rate doctrine […]
US Supreme Court Grants Cert. to Resolve State Action and Class Action Disputes
July 2, 2012 – 4:40 pm
In the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) prosecution of the Phoebe Putney Health System Inc. merger, the U.S. Supreme Court will clarify the degree of specificity that state lawmakers must use in adopting an anticompetitive state regulation in order to secure an exemption from the federal antitrust laws. The Eleventh Circuit upheld Phoebe Putney’s $195 million […]
Third Circuit Antitrust Exemption Does Not Require Close Scrutiny by Rate Regulators
July 2, 2012 – 4:33 pm
The Third Circuit, through a panel including retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, relied on the filed-rate doctrine to hold that a rate-setting agency need not closely scrutinize a rate application in order to trigger an exemption from the antitrust laws. The homeowner plaintiffs had argued that New Jersey and Delaware title insurers […]
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
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, […]
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 […]