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Amazon antitrust class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Amazon has been ordered to produce sales from its operations in the United Kingdom and Germany.
- Why: Consumers argue the data will help show Amazon has a price parity policy that it allegedly uses to stifle competition.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Washington federal court.
Amazon has been ordered to produce sales data from the United Kingdom and Germany that a group of consumers argue shows the company has a price parity policy that is used as a way to stifle competition.
The consumers requested the European data so that they can measure the effects of price parity provisions allegedly imposed by the online retail giant on third party sellers in the United States, reports Law360.
The judge overseeing the complaint determined, meanwhile, that the consumers were able to sufficiently show how the European data is relevant to its antitrust claims, despite the complaint concerning consumers in the US.
Consumers filed their complaint against Amazon in March 2020, arguing at that time that the company had fixed prices through price parity provisions that mandated that third-party sellers not sell goods sold on Amazon Marketplace for less elsewhere, reports Law360.
Amazon argues it already produces ‘massive’ amount of data relating to its US business
Amazon reportedly argued it had already agreed to produce a “massive” amount of sales data relating to its business in the US, and that having to come forward with data from the UK and Germany would be unnecessarily burdensome.
The judge pushed back on this argument, however, determining that the data from the external markets “has a critical role to play in determining damages in this case,” reports Law360.
“Ultimately, Amazon succeeds only in demonstrating that it has already produced a lot of data in this case, not that the requested discovery here will be disproportional,” the judge wrote.
Consumers argue Amazon imposed its price parity provisions on its merchants in 2010, before later revoking the policy in the UK and Germany following pushback from regulators, reports Law360.
Amazon’s price parity provisions reportedly remained in effect in the US through March 2019, according to the Amazon class action.
In April, a class action lawsuit accusing Amazon of restricting its third-party sellers was partially dismissed by a federal judge in Washington.
Have you purchased a product from Amazon Marketplace? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Keller Postman LLC, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, and Keller Rohrback LLP.
The Amazon antitrust class action lawsuit is Frame-Wilson, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-00424, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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