Articles Posted in Antitrust Litigation Highlights

On July 14, 2014, New York State Attorney Eric Schneiderman announced that Casella Wastes (“Castella”), a waste management company based in Vermont but also serving New York, agreed to change its existing contracting practices in the face of antitrust scrutiny. Casella was found to have unlawfully restricted competition through its acquisition of smaller competitors and…

On July 14, SignatureMD, a concierge medicine provider, sued its competitor, MDVIP, in federal court over allegations that the latter’s business practices violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as California’s antitrust and unfair competition statutes in the Cartwright Act. According to the lawsuit, MDVIP, the largest provider of concierge medicine in the United States…

On July 11, 2014, Germany’s association of booksellers announced that European Union (“EU”) officials contacted them regarding its dispute with Amazon.com. The booksellers have already asked German antitrust authorities to investigate Amazon, alleging that the online retailer is delaying the shipment of one of its member, Bonnier AG’s books over a dispute on the price…

On May 27, 2014, the attorneys of Japanese auto part companies filed a motion in a federal court in Michigan, indicating they will appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals a ruling made by U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani that established a premise that an industry-wide cartel conspiracies existed among Japanese auto part makers.…

On April 24, 2014, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe agreed to settle a major antitrust case regarding an alleged no employee-poaching agreement in an effort to lower employee compensation. According to the lawsuit, Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Pixar and LucasFilm signed a no-solicitation agreement dating from as far back as 2005. These companies agreed…

On March 17, 2014, sports labor attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, filed suit against the NCAA and five power conferences, alleging that capping player compensation at the cost of a scholarship is an antitrust violation.  The lawsuit argues that limiting player compensation amounts to “price-fixing,” and should be considered a violation of existing antitrust laws.  Unlike previous…

On February 19, 2014, the Utah ready-made soft pretzel maker, Sparky’s Pretzel, filed an antitrust complaint against Utah Pretzel and Valley Fair Mall, asserting that the two defendants are colluding to keep it out of the northern Utah ready-made pretzel market. According to Sparky’s Pretzel, its long-running tenancy in Valley Fair Mall, beginning in 2004,…

On February 18, 2014, U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle granted a motion by U.S. hotel chains and online travel agencies to dismiss without prejudice an antitrust case alleging consumers paid inflated prices on hotel rooms booked online. Judge Boyle believed there to be two main arguments from the plaintiffs:  first, defendants conspired to restrain competition in…