In Williams v. Duke Energy Corp., Case No. 1:08-cv-46 (S.D. Ohio March 13, 2014), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio certified a class of direct purchasers of electricity. The class alleged that a power company settled objections of certain large customers to a rate-stabilization plan in return for unlawful and substantial rebates to those customers. Plaintiffs brought fraud and related claims on behalf of all electricity purchasers who did not receive the rebates, and brought Robinson-Patman Act price discrimination claims on behalf of competitors of the favored businesses. In certifying the Robinson-Patman competitor subclass, the Court noted that although Robinson-Patman Act claims are generally not susceptible to class treatment because of the individualized proof required to establish damages, the plaintiffs in the case were seeking only injunctive and declaratory relief under the Act, so competitive injury need not be demonstrated. Accordingly, the competitor subclass satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)(2)'s commonality requirement.
A copy of the decision is available here.
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