DHL Reaches $53M Freight Forwarding Antitrust Settlement

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

The international mail service DHL Express (USA) Inc. has agreed to pay $53 million in order to settle allegations from a potential price-fixing class action lawsuit. If approved, this settlement would allow the company to exit an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2008 which accused multiple international shipping companies of engaging in antitrust behaviors.

In addition to paying $53 million, DHL has agreed to cooperate with the plaintiffs in pursuing claims against other named defendants accused of inflating and maintaining surcharges on freight forwarding services to customers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

According to the DHL class action lawsuit settlement, the mail shipping company will provide witnesses, evidence and supplemental data should a trial occur.

Although the purchasers and DHL reached the price-fixing class action lawsuit settlement in October, they filed a motion on Tuesday asking U.S. Judge John Gleeson for approval of the deal that both parties find fair and reasonable.

According to the DHL antitrust class action lawsuit settlement, approval of the terms will save judicial resources and further litigation costs. “Many thousands of entities purchased U.S. freight forwarding services during the Class Period; settling these claims as a class action will conserve both judicial and private resources and will hasten class members’ recovery,” the court documents state.

The antitrust litigation accused DHL and other freight forwarders of raising and maintaining rates and surcharges. So far, the putative class action has produced more than 5 million documents, and 50 depositions which has led to 21 other price-fixing settlements.

The purchasers, including Precision Associates Inc., Mail Boxes Etc. Inc. and JCK Industries Inc., accused multiple companies of antitrust conspiracies that violated the Sherman Act.

If approved, the DHL class action settlement would be open to all Class Members who purchased U.S. freight forwarding services for shipments within, to, or from the United States, or purchased or sold in the U.S. regardless of the location of shipment from DHL or any of its subsidiaries at any time between Jan. 1, 2001 to Jan. 4, 2011.

More information about the status of the DHL antitrust class action lawsuit settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by W. Joseph Bruckner, Heidi M. Silton, Anna M. Horning Nygren, Craig S. Davis and Kristen G. Marttila of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP; Christopher Lovell, Gary S. Jacobson, Ian T. Stoll, Merrick S. Rayle and Benjamin M. Jaccarino of Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP; Daniel E. Gustafson, Daniel C. Hedlund, Michelle J. Looby and Joshua J. Rissman of Gustafson Gluek PLLC; and Steven N. Williams and Adam J. Zapala of Cotchett Pitre & Mccarthy LLP.

The DHL Price-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit Settlement is Precision Associates Inc., et al. v. Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd., et al., Case No. 1:08-cv-00042, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.