US: SCOTUS turns its back on dairy case

Dean Foods will not get a chance to take its antitrust dispute to the US Supreme Court.

Reports said Monday that the US’s top court declined the dairy giant’s request to hear the case, which first began when claims emerged that Dean Foods colluded with a rival that first entered the market following a merger between Dean and Suiza Foods in 2001.

A class action lawsuit lead by Food Lion accused Dean and the new company, National Dairy Holdings, of allocating the market in the Southeast and harming competition in the milk supply industry.

A judge had dismissed the claims, but last January the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case against Dean, meaning the lawsuit will now be handed back down to the lower courts for proceedings, reports say.

Dean had asked SCOTUS to intervene, claiming the case could clarify the necessary standards for a summary judgment to dismiss in antitrust cases. But reports say the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving the January ruling intact.

Full content: Reuters

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