|
Texas Farmer Seeks Damages
Monday, February 13, 2023 2:55PM CDT
Texas Farmer Seeks Damages 02/13 14:54
Class-Action Lawsuit Filed by Texas Farmer Moved to Federal Court in North
Carolina
A federal court in North Carolina has transferred a class-action lawsuit
filed by a Texas farmer in Indiana to the same court where the Federal Trade
Commission and 10 state attorneys general filed a complaint alleging two major
agriculture seed and chemical companies committed antitrust violations through
the use of loyalty programs.
Todd Neeley
DTN Staff Reporter
LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- An antitrust lawsuit filed by a Texas farmer alleging
Syngenta Crop Protection and Corteva Inc. paid distributors to block
competitors from selling less-expensive generic products to farmers has been
transferred to a federal court in North Carolina where the Federal Trade
Commission and 10 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit.
Hankamer, Texas, farmer Justin W. Jenkins filed an anti-trust lawsuit
against the companies in October 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Southern Indiana in Indianapolis.
In that lawsuit, Jenkins alleged he and similarly situated farmers suffered
losses because they were forced to "purchase CPPs (crop protection products) at
prices that were inflated due to defendants' anticompetitive conduct."
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
approved the transfer of Jenkins' case.
Jenkins said in the lawsuit that the companies used loyalty programs to make
"substantial payments to their wholesalers and in certain cases, also
retailers," in exchange for the wholesalers and retailers agreeing to "strictly
limit their purchases of -- and thereby prevent widespread distribution of --
generic versions of defendants' CPPs."
In his original complaint, Jenkins' attorneys told the court the farmer and
others in similar situations are entitled to "recover damages reaching back
even beyond four years" of the filing of the complaint.
"Plaintiff and members of the class had no knowledge of the defendants'
unlawful, self-concealing scheme and could not have discovered the scheme and
conspiracy through the exercise of reasonable diligence more than four years
before the filing of this complaint." Jenkins' complaint said.
As was the case with the lawsuit filed by the FTC and the 10 attorneys
general from California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota,
Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin, Jenkins' action alleges the companies
have violated the Sherman Act and its anti-monopoly provisions.
Syngenta and Corteva recently filed motions to dismiss the FTC and states'
lawsuit. In filing the motions, the companies defended the legality of the
loyalty programs.
The FTC and the states have alleged distributors only get paid if they limit
business with competing manufacturers. Such arrangements, the complaint said,
are "cutting off" competition and allowing the companies to "inflate their
prices and force American farmers to spend millions of dollars more for their
products."
In particular, the lawsuit alleged Syngenta has monopoly and market power on
the fungicide azoxystrobin, and the herbicides mesotrione and metolachlor. The
suit cites Corteva's herbicides rimsulfuron and acetochlor and the insecticide
and nematicide oxamyl.
Syngenta and Corteva are two of the largest pesticide manufacturers
operating in the United States. Syngenta, based in Switzerland, is a subsidiary
of a Chinese state-owned company. Corteva, headquartered in Indianapolis, is
the company formed as part of a merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical Company.
The FTC and states' complaint alleges Syngenta and Corteva take "illegal"
steps to stop generic pesticides from eating into their profits. The loyalty
programs include making payments to distributors -- as long as the distributors
keep their purchases of competing generic pesticides beneath a certain
threshold.
The FTC said the complaint was part of a "broader push to unlock competition
and innovation in the American economy" as well as to "protect consumers and
small businesses and crack down on unfair tactics by dominant companies."
The complaint also alleges the companies violated state-competition and
consumer protection laws in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.
Read more on DTN:
"Chem Companies Defend Loyalty Programs,"
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2023/01/25/syngenta-corte
va-say-loyalty-lawful
Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @DTNeeley
(c) Copyright 2023 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, April 23, 2020 10:42AM CDT
Thursday, April 23, 2020 10:42AM CDT
Friday, April 3, 2020 5:20PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, May 29, 2020 3:52AM CDT
Thursday, May 28, 2020 11:47AM CDT
Monday, March 30, 2020 8:58AM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, April 23, 2020 10:56AM CDT
Thursday, April 23, 2020 10:56AM CDT
Wednesday, April 1, 2020 11:05AM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, May 19, 2020 11:09AM CDT
Thursday, April 2, 2020 5:50PM CDT
Thursday, April 2, 2020 5:50PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, March 27, 2020 7:29AM CDT
Thursday, March 19, 2020 12:08PM CDT
Wednesday, March 18, 2020 11:19AM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, April 23, 2020 10:54AM CDT
Friday, April 3, 2020 1:43PM CDT
Thursday, April 2, 2020 2:13PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, April 3, 2020 3:51PM CDT
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 12:20PM CDT
Friday, March 20, 2020 1:59PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, April 3, 2020 5:07PM CDT
Friday, March 27, 2020 1:45PM CDT
Friday, March 20, 2020 5:43PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monday, March 30, 2020 3:11PM CDT
Monday, March 30, 2020 3:11PM CDT
Monday, March 23, 2020 3:43PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 2:57PM CDT
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 1:44PM CDT
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 3:35PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, April 1, 2020 1:27PM CDT
Friday, March 20, 2020 8:30AM CDT
Monday, March 9, 2020 5:22PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, April 3, 2020 3:03PM CDT
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 11:15AM CDT
Thursday, March 26, 2020 1:52PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, April 3, 2020 4:39PM CDT
Thursday, April 2, 2020 3:51PM CDT
Wednesday, April 1, 2020 4:59PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 12:53PM CDT
Monday, March 16, 2020 11:29AM CDT
Thursday, March 5, 2020 5:06PM CDT
|
|
|
|
|
DTN Headline News
DTN Blogs & Forums