Consumer hits major PVC pipe manufacturers with price-fixing class action

PVC pipe price-fixing class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Blake Wrobbel filed a class action lawsuit against multiple PVC pipe makers, including Atkore, Cantex, Ipex USA and JM Eagle, among others. 
• Why: Wrobbel claims the PVC pipe manufacturers have been colluding to fix prices in the U.S. PVC pipe market since at least 2021. 
• Where: The PVC pipe class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court. 

A new class action lawsuit claims the largest PVC pipe manufacturers in the nation have been colluding to fix prices in the U.S. PVC pipe market since at least 2021. 

Plaintiff Brake Wrobbel’s class action lawsuit claims the PVC pipe makers, including Ipex USA, Atkore, Cantex and JM Eagle, among others, are engaged in an anticompetitive scheme to “fix, raise, maintain, stabilize, or otherwise manipulate” the price of PVC pipe.

Wrobbel, a Tennessee farmer, argues the alleged scheme has led to “supracompetitive” prices and allowed the PVC pipe manufacturers to reap “record profits” in the U.S. PVC pipe market.

“Market data and economic evidence prove that Defendants’ anticompetitive agreement to inflate the price of finished PVC pipe above competitive levels resulted in inflated PVC pipe prices for consumers throughout the Class Period,” the PVC pipe price-fixing class action says. 

Wrobbel wants to represent a nationwide class of consumers who purchased PVC pipe from at least as early as Jan. 1, 2021, and until the PVC pipe manufacturers’ unlawful conduct and its anticompetitive effects “cease to persist,” in addition to a subclass of consumers from 33 states and the District of Columbia. 

Class action claims PVC pipe makers flouted antitrust law

Wrobbel argues price reporting agency and co-defendant Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) acts as a “go-between” for the PVC pipe manufacturers, allegedly enabling them to push their relationship as competitors “past the boundaries set by the antitrust laws.” 

“Since at least January 2021, the (PVC pipe manufacturers) have used OPIS to facilitate an agreement to fix the price of PVC pipe sold in the United States,” the PVC pipe price-fixing class action claims. 

Wrobbel claims the PVC pipe manufacturers and OPIS are guilty of violating the Sherman Act and antitrust laws in 33 states and the District of Columbia. 

He demands a jury trial and requests injunctive relief and an award of trebled damages for himself and all class members. 

Earlier this year, Target, Lowe’s, American Airlines, General Motors, Lumen Technologies and U.S. Foods filed a lawsuit against dozens of pharmaceutical companies over claims they engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to fix the price of hundreds of generic drugs.

Have you purchased PVC pipe since January 2021? Let us know in the comments.

Wrobbel is represented by Brian M. Hogan, Karin E. Garvey, Patrick J. Coughlin, Carmen Medici, Daniel J. Brockwell, Patrick McGahan and Michael Srodoski of Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law LLP, and Charles F. Barrett of Neal & Harwell PLC.

The PVC pipe price-fixing class action lawsuit is Wrobbel, et al. v. Atkore Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-08012, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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