Spector Roseman Announces Class Certification of Antitrust Case Against Babies ‘R’ Us

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On July 15, 2009, Judge Anita Brody issued a fifty-page opinion certifying consumer subclasses in a vertical price fixing case against Babies ‘R’ Us and certain of its key suppliers, noting that, Babies ‘R’ Us “conspired with numerous manufacturers, including the defendants Britax Child Safety, Inc., Kids Line, LLC, Maclaren USA, Inc., Medela, Inc., Peg Perego USA, Inc., and BabyBjörn AB, which supplied U.S. retailers through defendant Regal Lager, Inc.” The opinion and accompanying order were filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. law firm of Spector Roseman Kodroff & Willis, P.C. was appointed co-lead counsel in the class action, representing consumers who purchased certain baby products from Babies ‘R’ Us between 1999 and 2006. Plaintiffs allege that Babies ‘R’ Us coerced the six manufacturer defendants (including Regal Lager, BabyBjörn AB’s former exclusive U.S. distributer) into adopting vertical price restraints to prevent retail discounting and insulate Babies ‘R’ Us from price competition.

The opinion follows an extensive briefing schedule and more than two days of evidentiary hearings in which factual evidence and expert testimony was presented.

The class plaintiffs’ case will now move forward under the direction of co-lead counsel Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Spector Roseman Kodroff & Willis, P.C., and Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLC. The case is McDonough et al. v. Toys ‘R’ Us, Inc., et al., case number 2:06-cv-00242, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

For information about antitrust cases, call Eugene Spector at 215-496-0300 or visit www.srkw-law.com.

Spector Roseman Announces Class Certification of Antitrust Case Against Babies ‘R’ Us