February 13, 2024
Energizer and Walmart cannot escape a trio of class actions accusing the battery manufacturer of giving the big box chain almost complete control over the retail price its batteries are sold for and forbidding other retailers from undercutting them.
U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts on Friday spent 21 pages laying out exactly why he was refusing to toss the three proposed class actions against Energizer Holdings Inc. and Walmart Inc., ultimately saying that for now, they had more than met their burden for accusing the companies of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
In doing so, Judge Pitts also lifted the stay on discovery he had ordered in the case back in September 2023.
The battery buyers sufficiently allege both that there was an agreement and that the behavior was unreasonable, Judge Pitts said, which was enough to support their allegations until summary judgment.
. . .
Dan Copeland and the indirect purchaser class are represented by Daniel Silverman, Alison Deich, Richard Koffman and John Bracken of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and Sarah Grossman-Swenson and Kimberly Weber of McCracken Stemerman & Holsberry LLP.
Read Energizer, Walmart Can’t Ditch Battery Pricing Collusion Suits.