Judge rules DOJ antitrust case against Dean Foods to continue
By Agri-Pulse Staff
© Copyright Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.
This week, U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Stadtmueller issued a written
order in
Commenting on the ruling, Dean Foods stated that, “We believe our acquisition of Foremost Farms is promoting competition in the region and has already produced benefits for consumers and farmers. We continue to believe that the government’s complaint against us is unfounded.” The company noted that the way courts handle a motion to dismiss creates “a high bar for any defendant.” While the company did not win a dismissal, Dean Foods stated that “we are encouraged by the court’s recognition of the ‘shortcomings’ of the plaintiffs’ pleadings, which the court called ‘not well structured,’ and we look forward to the discovery process.” Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona commented that “We’re pleased the judge denied the motion to dismiss and we’re prepared to litigate the case in court.”
According
to Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in charge of DOJ’s Antitrust
Division, “The purpose of the department’s lawsuit is to restore competition so
that schools, grocery stores and other retailers in
The Justice Department and the three state Attorneys General maintain that their complain includes “enough facts to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence supporting the plaintiff’s allegations” against Dean Foods. They point out that current law “makes acquisitions by one corporation of another unlawful ‘where in any line of commerce in any section of the country, the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.’”
When Foremost officials discussed the sale of their two
fluid milk processing plants in
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