A private-equity firm and its majority-owned subsidiary preserved a defense summary judgment on antitrust conspiracy and monopolization claims in OJ Commerce, LLC v. KidKraft, Inc., 34 F.4th 1232 (11th Cir. May 24, 2022). Building on the Supreme Court’s holding that a parent company cannot engage in unlawful “concerted activity” with a wholly owned subsidiary, Copperweld…
Category: Antitrust
Full Court Nixes Appeal of Antitrust Immunity Ruling
Sitting en banc, the Eleventh Circuit unanimously held in SmileDirectClub, LLC v. Battle, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 21393 (11th Cir. July 20, 2021), that an interlocutory appeal may not be taken under the collateral order doctrine from the denial of the state-action antitrust immunity conferred by Parker v. Brown, 317 U.S. 341 (1943). The case…
Equipment Distributor Can’t Defeat Summary Judgment on Claims that Competitor Conspired with Manufacturer to Terminate Business with Distributor
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a defendant facing claims under the Sherman Antitrust Act, concluding that the plaintiff’s evidence was “at least ‘as equally consistent with permissible competition as it is with an illegal conspiracy.’” The court’s decision in American Contractors Supply, LLC v. HD Supply Construction Supply, Ltd., 2021 WL 822194 (11th…
Appellate Lapses Ding Body Shops’ Antitrust Appeal
In another appeal from the body shops vs. insurers antitrust MDL, Automotive Alignment & Body Service, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 2020 WL 1074420 (Mar. 6, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit first delved into two procedural questions arising from lapses by appealing plaintiffs, one concerning appealability; the other, reviewability. The appellants were three…
No State Action Antitrust Immunity for City’s Alleged Tying Arrangement
The City of LaGrange, Georgia was held not to be immune from antitrust liability based on its claim that its actions were authorized by the state, according to the Eleventh Circuit’s August 20, 2019 decision in Diverse Power, Inc. v. City of LaGrange, 2019 WL 3928624. The city provides exclusive water services to its residents…
Full Eleventh Circuit Dismisses Car Shop Antitrust Claims against Insurers
In Quality Auto Painting Center of Roselle, Inc. v. State Farm Indemnity Co., 2019 WL 1006973, on March 4, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc, addressed the sufficiency of five complaints brought under the Sherman Act for price-fixing and group boycotting and state law claims for unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, and tortious interference. The…
Court Grants En Banc Rehearing in Body Shops’ Insurance Antitrust Action
The Eleventh Circuit voted to accept en banc rehearing in Quality Auto Painting Center of Roselle, Inc. v. State Farm Indemnity Co., 870 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2017), a decision we covered here last September. The now-vacated panel decision, authored by Judge Wilson, had reversed the dismissal of antitrust and state-law claims asserted by auto-body-shop…
Body Shops Can Proceed with Antitrust Claims Against Auto Insurers
A divided panel of the Eleventh Circuit has reversed the dismissal of antitrust and state law claims asserted by auto body shops against automobile insurers. Quality Auto Painting Ctr. of Roselle, Inc. v. State Farm Indem. Co., 2017 WL 3910750 (11th Cir. Sept. 7, 2017). Senior Judge Lanier Anderson’s lengthy dissent and partial concurrence would…
Post-Acquisition Conduct Fails Concerted Action Requirement Under Sherman Act
The Eleventh Circuit found two grounds independently sufficient to affirm summary judgment in an antitrust case, Procaps S.A. v. Patheon, Inc., 2016 WL 7487726 (11th Cir. Dec. 30, 2016). The court ruled that summary judgment was proper both because the plaintiff could not establish the concerted action requirement based on post-acquisition conduct by one party to a…