Class Certification Affirmed In Packaged Seafood Antitrust Litigation

On April 8, 2022, the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative, Inc. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC affirmed the district court’s order certifying three classes of plaintiffs. A team at Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P. led by partner Heidi M. Silton and assisted by associate Craig S. Davis and senior counsel Joseph C. Bourne represents the End Payer Plaintiff class. The court held that the plaintiffs had met their burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that their claims that they were injured by the defendants’ alleged price-fixing conspiracy were capable of class-wide resolution. The court of appeals further held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that common issues, including antitrust impact, would predominate over any individualized issues at trial.