Energizer, Walmart fight 'baseless' antitrust lawsuits over battery prices

Energizer Holdings

01/08/2023 17:02

By Mike Scarcella
       Aug 1 (Reuters) - Energizer  ENR.N  and Walmart  WMT.N 
have asked a U.S. judge to dismiss three proposed class actions
accusing them of a conspiracy to artificially inflate wholesale
and retail prices of disposable batteries in violation of U.S.
antitrust law.
    In a filing in Oakland, California, federal court, defense
lawyers for the two companies on Monday argued that the
plaintiffs in the cases filed in April have failed to provide
any factual basis to support their claim of an unlawful
agreement to fix battery prices.
    The lawsuits alleged Energizer, facing pressure from
Walmart, agreed to raise the wholesale prices it charged to
other direct-purchase customers in order to allow Walmart to
offer lower retail prices.
    Twelve individual consumers in states including California,
Florida, New York and Illinois who bought batteries from various
retailers filed one of the lawsuits. In another, the plaintiff
is retailer Portable Power, which said it bought batteries
directly from Energizer. The third complaint was filed by
battery purchasers at Walmart.
    "All the conduct they point to is entirely consistent with
rational, unilateral business conduct and does not support an
inference of conspiracy," lawyers for Energizer and Walmart said
in a jointly submitted filing.
    Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to
messages seeking comment on Tuesday.
    A spokesperson for Walmart, the world's largest retailer,
declined to comment beyond the company's court filing. A
representative from Energizer did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
    The three cases were filed in late April and are pending
before U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr.
    Plaintiffs' lawyers said Walmart was Energizer's largest
customer and that they devised a scheme "to slow price decline
and ensure that both companies could charge
higher-than-competitive prices" for Energizer products.
    Energizer, according to the complaints, set up an internal
team dubbed "Project Atlas" to help ensure Walmart's disposable
battery prices were lower than competitors' prices.
    The plaintiffs contend the team "warned retailers that tried
to undersell Walmart that they had to match or exceed Walmart's
prices."
    Lawyers for Energizer argued "the antitrust laws do not
prevent a manufacturer like Energizer from contracting
exclusively with one retailer and terminating all other
distributors."
    The attorneys also said that "scores of other retailers sell
disposable batteries."
    The lawsuits seek compensatory and triple damages. They also
seek a court order compelling Walmart and Energizer "to take
affirmative steps to dissipate the continuing effects of their
prior unlawful conduct."
    
    The cases are Copeland et al v. Energizer Holdings and
Walmart, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California,
No. 4:23-cv-02087-HSG; Portable Power v. Energizer and Walmart,
No. 4:23-CV-02091-HSG; and Schuman et al v. Energizer and
Walmart, No. 4:23-CV-02093-HSG.

 (Reporting by Mike Scarcella; editing by Leigh Jones)
 ((Mike.Scarcella@thomsonreuters.com;))