Whirlpool, Others Reach $48M Class Action Settlement in Fridge Cartel Case

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A group of refrigeration part manufacturers, including Whirlpool S.A. and Panasonic Corp., have struck a $48 million deal to resolve allegations they conspired to fix the prices of fractional compressors used in refrigeration devices. The class action settlement will cover direct purchasers of compressors found in appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and water coolers, purchased between February 2005 and the end of 2008.

Plaintiffs in the consolidated MDL In re: Refrigerant Compressors Antitrust Litigation motioned the Court on Dec. 27, 2013, to approve the class action settlement, which would provide up to $48.4 million and an additional $750,000 to notify Class Members and covers class action lawsuits involving Whirlpool, Panasonic, Tecumseh, Embraco and Danfoss Flensburg. Class action attorneys for the plaintiffs had not reached a settlement with the remaining defendants in the MDL, Appliances Components Companies SpA or U.S. subsidiary ACC USA, LLC, because the companies are considered insolvent and the plaintiffs’ legal team did not expect to obtain any awards for the alleged price fixing.

Direct purchasers would be able to obtain money from class action settlement funds established by each defendant according to the following splits:

1) Tecumseh product buyers are eligible for a portion of a $7 million fund.

2) Embraco plaintiffs are eligible for a portion of a $30 million settlement account.

3) Class members who purchased Danfoss Flensburg products are covered by a $3.5 million account.

4) Panasonic refrigerator compressor buyers will be paid a percentage of a $7.9 million account set up for the settlement.

The first three defendants can also opt-out of the class action settlement agreement if the number of plaintiffs who opt out reach a certain percentage of the entire Class. However, certified victims of alleged price fixing who purchased Panasonic refrigeration products are guaranteed a portion of the fund the company has set aside.

If approved, the refrigeration antitrust class action settlement would resolve litigation that began in 2009, alleging that the above companies colluded to fix prices of these compressors, which are used in refrigerator components and other products. A preliminary settlement filed last May was nixed by the judge who noted that the Class included people who had bought products that contained these items, not direct purchasers of the parts, and as such did not have a legitimate claim.

The awards available via the class action settlement process represent between 2.7% and more than 5% of total sales over the covered periods, which will be made available in an upcoming settlement notice provided by Settlement Administrator Garden City Group Inc.

Plaintiffs are represented by class action attorneys David H. Fink and Darryl Bressack of Fink + Associates Law, E. Powell Miller and Marc Newman of the Miller Law Firm PC, Robert N. Kaplan and Gregory K. Arenson of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP and Michael D. Hausfeld and William P. Butterfield of Hausfeld LLP.

The Refrigerator Compressor Price Fixing Class Action Lawsuits are consolidated in In Re: Refrigerant Compressors Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2042, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.

UPDATE: On June 12, 2014, a federal judge granted final approval to a reduced $30 million class action lawsuit settlement in the Refrigerant Compressors Antitrust MDL.