Canadian Court Certifies Price-Fixing Class Action

A hood latch assembly.  Can you see any price-fixing on it?

A trial court in Toronto, Canada, has certified a class action against E.I. duPont Canada for fixing prices on engineering resins that go into automobile hood latches, dashboards, and other plastic parts.  Apparently nothing quite like that has ever happened in a Great White North court ere now. 

On December 5, 2007, Justice Alexandra Hoy, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, issued her "Order (Certification)".  Her Honor had written a 37-page "Reasons for Decision" about two months earlier.  So the decision came as less of a shock to duPont than you might expect.  Axiom Plastics Inc. v. E. I. duPont Canada Co., No. 05-cv-302358 (Ont. Sup. Ct. Just.).

As near as Blawgletter can tell, the case proceeds on the hypothesis that the Canadian branch of duPont bribed auto makers (like GM and Ford) to require duPont resins in plastic parts for their cars.  The deal had the effect of forcing parts manufacturers like Axiom to use only duPont resins and thus gave duPont power to gouge them price-wise.  The proceeds of which gouging then went in part to the auto makers.

Will that fly?  Who knows?  But on first hearing it sounds hard.

Barry Barnett

Our feed has a thing for hard cases.  So we have that going for us.