N.D. CAL.Court order
California federal judge denies class certification in Energizer and Walmart battery price-fixing lawsuits
A California federal court denied class certification to three putative purchaser classes accusing Energizer Holdings and Walmart of conspiring to inflate disposable battery prices through wholesale distribution agreements. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts held that the plaintiffs failed to establish commonality and antitrust impact on a classwide basis, finding that their economists' difference-in-differences regression models did not satisfy the foundational parallel trends assumption.
Order (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California) → · Reuters, VitalLaw, Hoodline
Key points
- The ruling resolves class certification motions across three consolidated actions filed by direct, wholesale, and indirect consumer purchaser groups.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaVitalLaw
- Plaintiffs alleged Energizer agreed to raise wholesale prices for other direct-purchase customers so Walmart could offer lower retail prices.ReutersHoodline
- The court found plaintiffs' econometric regression models failed to show common injury or antitrust impact across the proposed classes.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaVitalLaw
- Judge Pitts declined to bar the plaintiffs from relying on their economic expert witnesses.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaReutersHoodline
- The court granted purchaser plaintiffs leave to refile class certification motions supported by revised evidence.U.S. District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaReutersHoodline
Sources4 articles across 4 outlets
Hoodline
Reuters
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
VitalLaw