September 27, 2016
Railroads accused of conspiring to fix fuel surcharges claimed in D.C. federal court Tuesday that an expert hired by a putative class of shippers rigged his economic analysis to come up with billions of dollars in damages, the latest volley in a class recertification battle.
September 26, 2016
A group of rail shippers on Monday fired its opening salvo against Union Pacific Railroad Co., BNSF Railway Co. and others in an attempt to recertify a multibillion-dollar class action accusing the companies of price-fixing fuel surcharges, telling a D.C. federal judge at the start of a weeklong proceeding that the case presents common issues for all class members and should not be individualized.
May 23, 2016
Rail shippers failed to block a Harvard economist from testifying at a class certification hearing in a fuel surcharge-fixing suit against rail carriers, when a D.C. federal judge ruled Friday that the shippers opposed his testimony because of his opinions, not his methods.
May 03, 2016
The U.S. Supreme Court's Tyson Foods decision may have shifted the goalposts on class certification, a D.C. federal judge said Tuesday, urging both sides in multidistrict litigation over allegations rail carriers fixed fuel surcharges to address the issue when they argue over class certification later this year.
April 18, 2016
Rail carriers told a D.C. federal judge Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court's Tyson Foods ruling did not disturb the rigorous standards for class certification set by previous rulings, and that as such, multidistrict litigation accusing the railroads of colluding to fix prices on fuel surcharges cannot proceed.
December 08, 2015
Rail carriers involved in now-stalled multidistrict litigation over railroad fuel surcharges have blasted an attempt by the proposed class of rail shippers to exclude their expert, maintaining that the shippers' "sham" motion was not made in good faith, according to documents released Monday from a D.C. federal court.
September 17, 2015
A D.C. federal judge worried Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming Tyson case could undo whatever he rules in multidistrict litigation over rail companies' alleged price-fixing, requesting both sides' take on the high court's potential to disrupt the MDL.
May 07, 2015
Attorneys in multidistrict litigation accusing rail freight companies of fuel surcharge price-fixing continued to fight Thursday over the use of expert testimony in an upcoming class certification hearing, with plaintiffs saying that allowing a newly introduced expert's testimony would wrongly tip the scales toward the defendants.
November 13, 2014
Freight railroad companies accused of conspiring to fix fuel surcharges blasted a bid by plaintiffs to add an expert to the case after their lead expert was revealed to have potentially improper financial links to the litigation, telling a D.C. federal court Wednesday that approving the bid would improperly reward the plaintiffs.
November 12, 2014
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday expressed concerns over revelations that a lead expert for plaintiffs accusing rail freight companies of fuel surcharge price-fixing may have had improper financial ties to the case, telling the parties to consider whether the suit's class certification briefings should now be scrapped.