Star Pipe Reached $3.6M Class Action Settlement Over Price-Fixing Claims

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A $3.6 million class action settlement was reached with Star Pipe Products Ltd. and direct purchasers of iron pipe fittings to resolve price-fixing allegations.

Star Pipe, along with Sigma Corp. and McWane Inc., was hit with a price-fixing class action lawsuit in February 2012. Sigma reached a $4.9 million class action settlement in May. A deal is still being negotiated with McWane.

In June, U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson granted preliminary approval to the deal with Sigma, saying that it was fair and reasonable.

According to the terms of the Star Pipe class action settlement, $3.6 million will be put into an escrow account in three installments, beginning in September.

“This settlement is reasonable in light of the risks of moving forward with litigation toward class certification, summary judgment, and trial,” the motion to preliminarily approve the class action settlement says.

The price-fixing conspiracy class action lawsuit is for any person or entity “in the United States that purchased DIPF [ductile iron pipe fittings] at any time from Jan. 11, 2008 through June 30, 3011.”

Star Pipe, Sigma, and McWane were all charged with conspiring together to control and fix the prices of ductile iron pipe fittings. Such iron pipe fittings are used in municipal and wastewater systems. McWane and Sigma were allegedly part of a second conspiracy to help McWane keep its dominate position in the pipe-fitting market.

The pipe fitting companies were charged with “two unlawful conspiracies: (a) a price-fixing conspiracy between McWane, Sigma and Star (who collectively sell more than 90 percent of DIPF in the United States) from at least January 2008 through June 2011; and (b) a conspiracy between McWane and Sigma to monopolize and fix prices in the domestic DIPF Market from Sept. 17, 2009 until at least Jan. 3, 2012.”

In addition, “Plaintiffs also challenge actions by McWane to monopolize the domestic DIPF market from at least February 2009 to the present,” the motion to approve the class action settlement adds.

In May 2012, the class action lawsuits filed by the direct purchasers were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in a New Jersey federal court.

Sigma and Star Pipe have also settled a price-fixing lawsuit being handled by the Federal Trade Commission.

Star Pipe tried to have the class action lawsuit dismissed  twice — in 2013 and 2014. The first time, the pipe fitting company argued that the direct purchasers didn’t have standing to bring the allegations in the class action lawsuits. The second time, it said that the plaintiffs did not make claims about collusive behavior.

However, Judge Thompson allowed the class action lawsuits to continue.

The direct purchasers are represented by Maryra V. Tarantino of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC, Karen Confoy of Fox Rothschild LLP, Robert N. Kaplan, Richard J. Kilsheimer, Gregory K. Arenson, Elana Katcher and Gary L. Specks of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLPand Kit A. Pierson, Robby Braun and Christopher J. Cormier of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

Star Pipe is represented by Gregory S.C. Huffman, William M. Katz Jr. and Nicole Williams of Thompson & Knight LLP, and by Joseph J. Fleischman of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus PA.

The Star Pipe Price-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit MDL is In Re: Ductile Iron Pipe Fittings (DIPF) Direct Purchase Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:12-cv-00711, in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: Instructions on how to file a claim for the ductile iron pipe fittings class action settlements are now available! Click here or visit www.DIPFDirectSettlement.com for details.