Plaintiffs, a group of ethanol producers, brought an antitrust action against the defendant alleging that defendant engaged in a scheme to profit by manipulating indexes used to set U.S. ethanol prices. Plaintiffs alleged monopolization, attempted monopolization, and market manipulation in violation of the Sherman Act as well as parallel state law provisions. The district court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss and plaintiffs appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that the plaintiffs’ theories of liability could not prevail because the complaint was missing an allegation that defendant completed its predatory prices scheme by charging monopoly prices to recoup its losses from below-cost prices, that plaintiffs waived their challenge to the dismissal of the monopolization claim, and that the complaint contained claims not recognized by the Sherman Act. (RIPPLE and LEE, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Sherman Act