On December 12, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authorized its staff to file a complaint against alcohol distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, LLC (“Southern Glazer’s”). The complaint alleges that the company engaged in price discrimination—charging higher prices to independent businesses and lower prices to large national and regional chains—in violation of Section 2(a) of the Robinson-Patman Act (“RPA”). The Commission voted 3-2 along party lines to file the lawsuit in federal district court, with the two Republican-appointed Commissioners—Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson—issuing strongly worded dissenting statements (see here and here, respectively). Prior to this case, the federal antitrust agencies—the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (the “Antitrust Division”)—had not brought an enforcement action under the RPA in more than two decades.Continue Reading FTC Brings First Robinson-Patman Act Case in More Than Two Decades
Texas District Court Enjoins FTC’s Rule Banning Non-Compete Clauses
On July 3, 2024, Judge Ada Brown of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted the motions for a preliminary injunction—filed by Ryan LLC and several trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—to prevent the FTC’s rule banning non-compete clauses from going into effect, but the court’s order only
Continue Reading Texas District Court Enjoins FTC’s Rule Banning Non-Compete ClausesFederal Trade Commission asserts significant anticompetitive harms in Interim Staff Report on the pharmacy benefit manager industry
On July 9, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 4-1 (with Commissioner Melissa Holyoak dissenting) to release an Interim Staff Report (the “Interim Report”) entitled: Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug Costs and Squeezing Main Street Pharmacies. The Interim Report describes what FTC staff has uncovered to date during
Continue Reading Federal Trade Commission asserts significant anticompetitive harms in Interim Staff Report on the pharmacy benefit manager industry