Dow Urethane Price-Fixing Class Action Settlement

The Dow Chemical Company has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it conspired with certain chemical manufacturers to fix the price of polyether polyol products sold in the United States, causing purchasers to be overcharged for the products.

If you purchased polyether polyols, MDI, TDI, MDI-TDI blends or polyether polyol systems between 1999 and 2003, you may be entitled to benefits from the Dow class action settlement.

According to the Dow class action settlement documents, “Polyether Polyol Products” are propylene oxide-based polyether polyols, monomeric or polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanates (collectively MDI), toluene diisocyanates (TDI), MDI-TDI blends, or propylene oxide-based polyether polyol systems.

Plaintiffs Seegott Holdings Inc., Industrial Polymers Inc. and Quabaug Corporation filed the class action lawsuit against Dow Chemical and other companies in November 2004.

They claimed that the defendants engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize the prices of polyether polyol products that were sold in the United States from Jan. 1, 1999 through Dec. 31, 2003.

They allege this conduct violated federal antitrust laws, and that they paid more for polyether polyol products than they would have if the defendants had not engaged in an illegal price-fixing conspiracy.

The plaintiffs previously settled their claims against other defendants, but faced Dow at trial in 2013. A jury found in favor of the plaintiffs. Dow subsequently appealed the jury verdict and judgment.

However, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury verdict and denied Dow’s request for a rehearing in 2014. Dow appealed the antitrust class action lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the parties reached a settlement before the high court decided whether to consider the appeal.

Dow denies the allegations but has agreed to settle the polyether polyol price-fixing class action lawsuit to avoid the expense and uncertainty of continued litigation.

The Dow polyether polyol price-fixing settlement received final approval following the final fairness hearing, which was held on July 27, 2016.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members of the Dow settlement include all persons and entities who purchased Polyether Polyol Products directly from a defendant at any time from Jan. 1, 1999 through Dec. 31, 2003 in the United States and its territories. NOTE: Only purchases made between Nov. 24, 2000 and Dec. 31, 2003 will be eligible for a monetary award from the Dow class action settlement.

The defendants include:

• Bayer AG, Bayer Corporation, and Bayer MaterialScience LLC
• BASF Corporation and BASF SE
• The Dow Chemical Company
• Huntsman International LLC
• Lyondell Chemical Company

Potential Award

Varies, depending on the type and amount of urethane products purchased. Class Members should have received a personalized Claim Form that lists the polyether polyol products purchased from Nov. 24, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2003.

Proof of Purchase

N/A. If you believe the information provided on your personalized Claim Form is incorrect, you may provide your own purchase data supported by invoices, purchase orders or cancelled checks.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

Claim Form Deadline

2/27/2017

Case Name

In re: Urethane [Polyether Polyol] Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 2:04-md-01616, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas

Final Hearing

7/27/2016

UPDATE November 14, 2017: According to the settlement website, a motion to approve distributions has been filed and a hearing is scheduled to take place on December 19, 2017.  Please keep checking Top Class Actions for updates.  We are following the case and will let our viewers know when the motion to distribute funds is approved.

Settlement Website

www.PolyetherPolyolSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Urethane Antitrust Litigation
c/o GCG
P.O. Box 10223
Dublin, OH 43017-5723
1-877-741-1226
Questions@PolyetherPolyolSettlement.com

Class Counsel

Gerard A. Dever
FINE KAPLAN AND BLACK RPC

Richard A. Koffman
COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL PLLC

Defense Counsel

Nathan P. Eimer
EIMER STAHL LLP