In In re: Crop Inputs Antitrust Litigation, No. 24-3104, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of an antitrust class action alleging that suppliers of seeds, pesticides, and other agricultural inputs conspired to refuse to sell their products to direct-to-consumer e-commerce platforms. According to plaintiffs, defendants—which included manufacturers, wholesalers, and authorized retailers—agreed to boycott the platforms to prevent the emergence of price transparency, which defendants allegedly feared farmers could use to negotiate lower prices.
Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Antitrust Class Action Alleging Group Boycott of Agricultural E-Commerce Platforms for “Impermissible Group Pleading”antitrust
Aggregate Damages Model, List Prices Insufficient to Demonstrate Classwide Antitrust Injury, Says Federal District Court
Last month in In re: Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation, the Southern District of New York denied certification to a proposed class of direct purchasers who alleged that Keurig, a manufacturer of branded coffee pods and brewers, violated antitrust laws by allegedly suppressing competition from generic coffee pod manufacturers. Although the plaintiffs offered statistical evidence suggesting that Keurig’s coffee pod prices were elevated on average, the court held that individual issues of antitrust impact predominated over common questions because Keurig directly negotiated prices with large buyers that might fully offset any increase in average prices.
Continue Reading Aggregate Damages Model, List Prices Insufficient to Demonstrate Classwide Antitrust Injury, Says Federal District CourtCourt Finds Homebuyers Lack Antitrust Standing to Challenge Real Estate Brokerage Commission Rules
By Eamon Dowd & Brandon Gould on
In Lutz v. HomeServices of America, Inc. et al., No. 4:24-cv-10040-KMM, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed antitrust claims brought by a proposed class of homebuyers seeking to enjoin implementation of rules promulgated by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) relating to commissions paid to real estate brokers representing homebuyers.
Continue Reading Court Finds Homebuyers Lack Antitrust Standing to Challenge Real Estate Brokerage Commission RulesCourt Dismisses Homebuyers’ Trade Association Horizontal Conspiracy Claim
By Eamon Dowd & Brandon Gould on
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently dismissed a horizontal antitrust conspiracy claim brought by a proposed class of homebuyers against a real estate brokerage company, while allowing the homebuyers’ claims based upon vertical agreements to continue.
Continue Reading Court Dismisses Homebuyers’ Trade Association Horizontal Conspiracy ClaimCourt Takes Wind Out of the Sails of Yacht Sellers’ Antitrust Suit
By Mathias Heller & Brandon Gould on
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently dismissed an antitrust class action brought by yacht sellers against yacht brokers, brokerage trade associations, and multiple listing services for preowned yachts. In Ya Mon Expeditions LLC v. International Yacht Brokers Association Inc., 1:24-cv-20805, the yacht sellers alleged that yacht brokers conspired through trade associations to fix uniform brokerage commissions on preowned yacht sales and exclude from yacht listing services sellers who were not represented by licensed brokers.
Continue Reading Court Takes Wind Out of the Sails of Yacht Sellers’ Antitrust SuitNew York Federal Court Declines to Find Class Claims Waived at Pleadings Stage
By Jonah Panikar on
In certain circumstances and states, class action waivers may mitigate the exposure risks inherent in class action lawsuits. A decision from the Eastern District of New York illustrates some of the procedural challenges defendants may face in seeking to enforce a waiver at the outset of a case in some circumstances. See Berger v. JetBlue Airways Corp., 2024 WL 4107243, at *4 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 6, 2024).
Continue Reading New York Federal Court Declines to Find Class Claims Waived at Pleadings StageNew Jersey Court Dismisses Software Price-Fixing Claims Against Atlantic City Casinos
By August Gweon & Brandon Gould on
On September 30, a New Jersey federal court dismissed with prejudice an antitrust class action complaint alleging that several Atlantic City hotel operators engaged in a per se illegal “hub-and-spoke” price-fixing conspiracy through their use of software algorithms to set room rental rates. Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, No. 1:23-CV-02536 (D.N.J.).
According to the court, class plaintiffs’ allegations concerning Atlantic City hoteliers suffered from the “same factual deficiencies identified” by a Nevada federal court in Gibson v. Cendyn Group, No. 2:23-cv-00140 (D. Nev.), which rejected price-fixing allegations arising from Las Vegas hotels’ use of the same software. The court concluded that, in both cases, plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege the existence of unlawful agreements between the hotels at the “rim” of the alleged “hub-and-spoke” price-fixing conspiracy for several reasons.
Continue Reading New Jersey Court Dismisses Software Price-Fixing Claims Against Atlantic City CasinosPost-Class Period Statistics Alone Cannot Demonstrate Parallel Conduct in Antitrust Action, SDNY Holds
By Brandon Gould & Kyle W. Chow on
In Ohio Carpenters’ Pension Fund v. Deutsche Bank AG, no. 22-cv-10462-ER (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 26, 2024), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed an antitrust class action alleging a conspiracy between Deutsche Bank and Rabobank to manipulate prices of European government bonds. Plaintiffs, certain U.S.-based pension funds, alleged that the defendants manipulated the prices they offered to investors to buy or sell EGBs in order to widen the resulting “bid-ask spread” between those prices and increase their profits.
Continue Reading Post-Class Period Statistics Alone Cannot Demonstrate Parallel Conduct in Antitrust Action, SDNY HoldsGame Stopped: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Meme Stock Antitrust Lawsuit
By Ayana Lindsey & Brandon Gould on
In January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading Litigation (No. 22-11873), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a case brought by retail investors alleging that Robinhood, a zero-fee stock brokerage platform, conspired with Citadel Securities, a high-frequency trading firm and short-seller, to block trading in “meme stocks” like GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Although the investors alleged that prices fell in the meme stocks they owned, the court held that those losses were not “anticompetitive effects” arising in the relevant antitrust markets the investors pleaded in their complaint.
Continue Reading Game Stopped: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Meme Stock Antitrust LawsuitNo Dice: Nevada Court Dismisses with Prejudice Algorithmic Price Fixing Theories in Vegas Hotels Case
By August Gweon & Brandon Gould on
On May 8, a Nevada federal court dismissed with prejudice a class action complaint alleging that several Las Vegas hotel operators violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by agreeing to set hotel room prices using pricing algorithms from the same vendor. The decision, Gibson v. Cendyn Group, No. 2:23-cv-00140 (D. Nev. 2024), follows the court’s October 24, 2023, dismissal of plaintiffs’ original complaint, which rejected plaintiffs’ allegations of a per se unlawful price-fixing conspiracy but granted leave to amend based on a Rule of Reason theory.
Continue Reading No Dice: Nevada Court Dismisses with Prejudice Algorithmic Price Fixing Theories in Vegas Hotels Case