On April 6, 2021, in
Olean Wholesale Grocery Coop. v. Bumble
Bee Foods LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
resolved several important class certification issues that had long
been unsettled in the circuit. The case involved antitrust claims
and thus is of particular interest to the antitrust bar and
companies facing antitrust class actions. But the rulings will
affect other class actions as well.
Olean Wholesale and other plaintiffs alleged that producers of
packaged tuna conspired to fix prices. The conspiracy s
existence was largely undisputed, as several defendants had pleaded
guilty to criminal conspiracy charges. As in most antitrust class