The Third Circuit yesterday denied a petition by Comcast Corporation for discretionary review of an order certifying a class of cable subscribers in the Chicago metropolitan area. The court previously declined to question the same district judge’s earlier certification of a Philadelphia-area subscriber class.
The case involves claims that Comcast violated sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by, among other things, swapping for and acquiring dominant positions in and around Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The conduct enabled Comcast to raise prices for non-basic cable subscribers above a competitive level, according to the complaints.
The district court also held earlier that the class plaintiffs’ complaints adequately alleged antitrust violations even under the new pleading standard of Bell Atlantic Co. v. Twombly, 127 S. Ct. 1955 (2007).
Barry Barnett
