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Big four railways challenge class certification in fuel surcharge lawsuit

By  |  July 6, 2012

Four U.S. railroad companies that are facing a price-fixing class action lawsuit have challenged the class certification. On June 21, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman (District of Columbia) certified a class alleging that Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway fixed fuel surcharges between 2003 and 2008. The surcharges were unrelated to actual costs, according to the complaint, and generated billions of dollars of profit for the railroads.

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    The railroads claim that the class certification puts pressure on them to settle what they see as non-meritorious claims, and damages may amount to at least $10 billion.

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