U.S. Federal Court: Amazon Loses Bid to Throw Out Amended Claims in Antitrust Suit

U.S. Federal Court: Amazon Loses Bid to Throw Out Amended Claims in Antitrust Suit

Amazon.com Inc. has failed to convince the U.S. Federal Court to dismiss the consumer lawsuit which alleged that the e-commerce giant was engaged in anticompetitive price fixing through its contractual terms imposed on third-party sellers.

Judge Richard A. Jones in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington removed some of the claims brought by the plaintiff’s amended complaint.

This in effect meant that, Amazon.com Inc must face consumer claims that its pricing practices artificially drove up the cost of goods sold by other retailers in violation of US antitrust law.

The ruling came in a prospective antitrust class action that has estimated damages of between $55 billion to $172 billion.

In 2020, the lawsuit was filed by residents of 18 states, including Virginia, Texas, California, Florida and Illinois, challenging an Amazon policy that retailers cannot offer lower prices for goods sold elsewhere if they also want their product available on the Amazon Marketplace platform.

The Court’s order has reduced and modified the claims present in the lawsuit, however it granted the liberty to the consumers to move ahead with their cases.

Plaintiff’s lawyer Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, who is lead attorney for the proposed class, said, “Amazon's main arguments are rejected,” and labelled the ruling good news for tens of millions of consumers who have been overcharged by Amazon.

Amazon has denied the plaintiffs' claims, arguing that its ‘Fair Pricing Policy’ has procompetitive benefits and that US antitrust law encourages such a policy.

The e-commerce giant has the possibility to defend its pricing practices at a later stage in the litigation, and can further urge the Court not to allow consumers to sue as a class.

The Court asserted that it seeks to review a class certification briefing schedule by mid-April.

A separate private consumer suit, also pending in Seattle Federal Court, alleged Amazon's practices have increased prices for items sold on the company's own platform.

Moreover, Attorneys General in California and Washington, DC, have also sued Amazon over pricing policies.