Like companies in just about every industry, the ride-hailing app Uber requires users to agree that they will take any disputes to an arbitrator rather than the legal system. And although you may never have noticed this clause, a federal appeals court has now ruled that customers receive “reasonably conspicuous” notice about the arbitration requirement. [More]
price fixing
Former StarKist Tuna Executive Pleads Guilty To Price-Fixing
By 6.29.17
Of all the industries to be rocked by scandal, you probably never expected that Big Tuna would be a hotbed of conspiracy. And yet, another fishy exec has agreed to plead guilty to his part in a price-fixing scheme that resulted in American shoppers paying more at the store. [More]
Bumble Bee Agrees To Plead Guilty To Tuna Fish Price-Fixing, Pay $25 Million Fine
By 5.8.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Bumble Bee Foods, one of the nation’s largest producers of canned tuna, has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges that it conspired with competing companies to fix the price of this common pantry seafood item. [More]
Reminder: Get $10 For Your Long-Gone Computer In Optical Drive Class Action
By 2.7.17
Did you buy a computer between April 1, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2008? Most people reading this probably did, and that makes you eligible for a class action settlement depending on which state you lived in at the time. You don’t need to still have your old computer or its serial number to file a claim in the class action. [More]
Tyson Foods Under Investigation For Alleged Chicken Price-Fixing
By 2.6.17
Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest poultry processor — and the company behind a dizzying array of packaged foods — revealed this week that federal regulators are investigating allegations of price-fixing. [More]
20 States Accuse Teva, Mylan & Other Pharma Companies Of Price-Fixing
By 12.15.16
When the Justice Department announced it was bringing criminal charges against two former executives of a pharmaceuticals company, alleging a conspiracy to fix prices on generic drugs, we said that this was likely just the tip of the legal iceberg. Today, the industry ran smack into that iceberg — in the form of a lawsuit filed by twenty states against six different drug companies, including notables like Teva and Mylan. [More]
Former Pharma Execs Face Felony Charges For Generic Drug Price-Fixing
By 12.14.16
Federal prosecutors have charged both the former CEO and president of a New Jersey pharmaceutical company with illegally conspiring to fix prices on generic drugs, marking the first time the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has prosecuted a case involving generic medications, and could be the first domino in a series of charges still to come against others. [More]
Bumble Bee Senior VP Of Sales To Plead Guilty In Tuna Price-Fixing Scheme
By 12.8.16
“Far-reaching price-fixing conspiracy” and “canned tuna” are not concepts that you might normally connect with each other. It turns out, though, that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a multi-year investigation into price-fixing and other wrongdoing in the packaged seafood industry, which is a real thing that is happening. [More]
Apple To Begin Issuing Refunds In E-Book Settlement Case June 22
By 6.20.16
Three months after the Supreme Court left Apple on the hook for $450 million in the settlement of a 2012 antitrust case against the company and five major book publishers, the tech giant is poised to begin handing out payments to customers starting tomorrow. [More]
Apple Asks Supreme Court To Hear Appeal Of E-Book Price-Fixing Case
By 9.18.15
Three months after a federal appeals court upheld a 2013 decision that found Apple liable for conspiring with publisher to raise the price of e-books, the company is taking the fight to clear its name to the country’s highest legal authority: the Supreme Court. [More]
People Trust Optometrists More Than Costco Or 1800CONTACTS, At Least According To Optometrist Group
By 8.25.15
As we’ve previously reported, there’s a legal war going on — with optometrists and manufacturers on one side, and discount and online retailers on the other — over how much you should have to pay for your contact lenses. Both sides of this battle have recently released surveys they hope will help win over public opinion. [More]
Apple Is On The Hook For $450M After Losing Federal Appeal In E-Book Price-Fixing Case
By 6.30.15
Though Apple’s alleged co-conspirators have long since settled and gone about the process of making good for the price-fixing they did not legally admit to committing, the elecronics company had held out in its fight to clear its name, taking the case to a federal appeals court late last year. It seems the electronics company will have to give up that battle, after the court upheld a 2013 decision that found Apple liable for conspiring with publishers to raise the price of e-books. [More]
Court Allows Utah To Ban Price-Fixing Of Contact Lenses
By 6.15.15
Contact lens companies have been working together to create price floors for their products, prohibiting retailers from offering competitive discounts and removing consumers’ ability to shop around for savings. Legislators in Utah recently passed a bill that would outlaw this practice but in May a federal appeals court temporarily blocked it from being enacted. But on Friday, the court vacated that injunction, allowing the new law to move forward. [More]
French Dairy Cartel Busted After U.S.-Based General Mills Blows The Whistle
By 3.12.15
When you think of cartels and price fixing, what’s the first thing to come to mind? Probably drugs, oil, or electronics that fall off the back of a truck, but definitely not yogurt. Still, it was that very product that led to the bust of a French dairy product cartel after a U.S.-based company apparently crashed the colluding. [More]
Apple’s Appeal Of E-Book Price-Fixing Verdict May Hinge On Court’s View Of Amazon
By 12.15.14
While all of its alleged co-conspirators have settled and begun the process of atoning for the price-fixing sins they have not legally admitted to committing, and even though it was found guilty of its part in the arrangement in 2013, Apple is still fighting to clear its name. Today, the electronics company once again squared off against federal prosecutors, trying to make the claim that Apple was actually trying to help break up Amazon’s monopoly on e-book pricing. [More]
Apple May Refund $400 Million To E-Book Customers (Or Maybe Nothing At All)
By 7.16.14
A year after a federal court ruled against Apple in the e-book price-fixing lawsuit brought by the Justice Dept., court documents reveal the terms of a second settlement that would close the books on state and civil claims tied to the price-fixing issue. But since the deal is contingent on Apple’s pending appeal of the DOJ case, the company could pay out as much as $400 million in refunds or as little as zilch. [More]
More Than 20 German Sausage Makers Fined A Total Of $461M For Price-Fixing
By 7.15.14
So you want to know how your sausage is made? Over in Germany, customers are finding out a bit more about their sausage — but instead of what ingredients go into their salami, liverwurst and knockwurst, the country’s regulatory office says more than 20 sausage makers were working together to fix prices for their meaty wares. [More]
Apple Settles E-Book Antitrust Class Action Suit; Terms Not Revealed
By 6.17.14
The saga surrounding Apple’s purported e-book price-fixing collusion ring seems to be entering its final chapter –– but not without keeping things shrouded in mystery for a little while longer. [More]
