Judge Throws Out Price Fixing Class Action
CHICAGO - At the close of the plaintiffs' case, Cook County Law Division Judge John Morrissey dismissed a class action lawsuit against Jewel Food Stores and Dominick's Finer Foods, which alleged that the two largest grocery store chains in the Chicago area conspired to fix the price of milk. Lawyers from McDermott Will & Emery represented Jewel Food Stores in the class action.
After over three weeks of trial, Judge Morrissey dismissed the lawsuit immediately following the plaintiffs' case on the ground that the plaintiffs failed to prove the existence of the alleged price-fixing conspiracy. McDermott Will & Emery's Chicago-based legal team included David Marx and Bill Boies.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, who were representatives of a class of consumers who purchased milk from Jewel and Dominick's in a nine county metropolitan Chicago area between August 1996 and August 2000, filed the lawsuit in August 2000. They were seeking between $52 and $125 million in damages, before trebling, on behalf of the class.
