AKRON — Law firms from New York and California have filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court in Akron accusing six U.S.-based tire makers of "artificially raising, fixing, maintaining or stabilizing the price of tires" sold in the U.S.
The suit, which seeks treble damages, injunctive relief and attorneys' fees and costs, was filed on behalf of John Bengel, described a a resident of Ohio who purchased a tire "directly from defendant" Bridgestone Americas, for which he paid an "artificially high" price.
The suit does not identify Bengel further nor state where or when he allegedly purchased the tire in question, nor identify which type of tire it was.
The suit — which mirrors charges in a suit filed Feb. 7 in New York federal district court on behalf of California resident Rena Sampayan — accuses the six tire makers of violating Sections 1 and 3 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1, 3) and for "unjust enrichment."
The six tire makers named — Bridgestone Americas Inc., Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C., Goodyear, Michelin North America Inc., Nokian Tyres Inc. and Pirelli Tire L.L.C. and their respective parent companies — are the same as in the Sampayan lawsuit.
Not named in either suit are five other companies with U.S. consumer tire manufacturing capacities: Hankook Tire America Corp., Kumho Tire USA Inc., Sumitomo Rubber North America, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. and Yokohama Tire Corp.
The suit claims the cost of tires in the U.S. since 2021 has risen 21.4% and that the defendants "have increased their prices in lockstep."
The U.S. suits follow closely on the Jan. 31 revelation that the European Commission (EC) had launched a cartel/antitrust investigation of the tire market in Europe.
In addition to citing the EC's action, the suit claims the defendants' "unlawful agreement" to fix tire prices is supported by things such as high market concentration, significant barriers to entry, lack of economic substitutes for tires, price inelasticity, motive and opportunity to conspire.
To support its allegations of price-fixing, the suit lists 35 price increases announced by the defendants between November 2020 and the present.
The suit states that defendants repeatedly claimed throughout this period that their price increases were due to increased input costs, but goes on to note that the "purported justification was pretextual and could not fully account for the significant increases in prices over the class period."
The suit also alleges that throughout the class period, the defendants had "numerous opportunities to collude and fix the prices of tires through trade association meetings and public communications."
White Plains, N.Y.-based Lowey Dannenberg is a national firm representing institutional and individual investors, public funds, organizations, and other entities who have suffered financial losses resulting from corporate fraud and malfeasance in violation of federal securities and antitrust laws, and consumer protection laws.
San Diego-based Korein Tillery PC is affiliated with Korein Tillery L.L.C. which describes itself as one of the country's leading plaintiffs' complex-litigation firms, representing a broad array of clients in high-stakes lawsuits.
