Amicus Brief: Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative, Inc. et al. v Bumble Bee Foods LLC
a. In Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative v. Bumble Bee Foods, Defendants said that representative evidence cannot be used to calculate antitrust injury; however, COSAL argued that the district court correctly utilized representative evidence for class certification. Oftentimes, the only way to assess data is through a representative sample and statistics. For one, it would be nearly impossible to determine individualized information for each class member before certifying a class. Furthermore, Defendants’ actions prevented having a more exact computation than an average. Consequently, plaintiffs should not be penalized for defendants’ lack of proper records. Defendants also argued that plaintiffs must show that almost all class members have been injured; however, doing so is not necessary for certification. Having uninjured class members does not equate to a lack of predominance, and the number of uninjured members is not always proportional to relevant individual issues. In all, COSAL emphasized the necessity of affirming the District Court’s approval of certification in order to hold Defendants accountable for their price-fixing scheme. The authors of this brief are Warren Burns, Kyle Oxforn, Robert Kitchenoff.
