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Plaintiff challenging Whole Foods-Wild Oats agrees to judgment in favor of supermarket

By  |  May 31, 2012

On Friday, May 25, the plaintiff in a federal antitrust lawsuit challenging Whole Foods’ merger with Wild Oats agreed to an entry of judgment in favor of Whole Foods. Ekaterini Kottaras brought suit in 2008, claiming that the merger led to higher prices for premium, natural and organic products. However, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (D.C.) had denied Kottaras’ motion to certify a class in January of this year, and the Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal of the order on April 20. Judge Boasberg had found that evidence of harm varied from person to person. Furthermore, the model presented by the expert would not be able to calculate net damages to Whole Foods customers accurately.

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    Related content: Changing Emphasis: How Whole Foods Advances the FTC’s Efforts to Transform Merger Litigation (Deborah Feinstein & William Baer, Arnold & Porter)

     

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