Larson v. Ferrellgas Partners, No. 15-2789 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed suit against Ferrellgas and AmeriGas under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, alleging that defendants artificially inflated prices for propane gas tanks and had conspiratorial communications about pricing and fill levels. The district court dismissed plaintiffs' claims as barred by the statute of limitations. The Eighth Circuit held that the district court erred in dismissing the claims because each sale to the plaintiffs in a price-fixing conspiracy starts the statutory period running again. In this case, the amended complaint adequately pleaded a continuing violation sufficient to restart the statute of limitations.
Court Description: Benton, for the Court En Banc] Civil case - Sherman Act. For the panel opinion in the matter, see In re Pre-Filled Propane Tank Antitrust Litig., 834 F.3d 943 (8th Cir. 2016). In this action by a group of direct purchasers who bought propane tanks from defendants for resale, alleging defendants conspired to reduce the amount of propane in the tanks while maintaining the price in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, the district court erred in dismissing the claims as barred by the statute of limitations; under applicable law, each sale to the plaintiffs in a price-fixing conspiracy starts the statutory period running again, and plaintiffs' allegations of a price-fixing conspiracy were sufficient to plead a continuing violation which restarted the statute of limitations. Judge Shepherd, dissenting, joined by Judge Wollman and Judge Loken; Judge Kelly joins portions of the dissent.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on August 25, 2016.
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