Fisher Brothers, Inc. v. Mueller Brass Co.

630 F. Supp. 493, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15365
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 2, 1985
DocketCiv. A. 84-0413
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 630 F. Supp. 493 (Fisher Brothers, Inc. v. Mueller Brass Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fisher Brothers, Inc. v. Mueller Brass Co., 630 F. Supp. 493, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15365 (E.D. Pa. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM and ORDER

SHAPIRO, District Judge.

Plaintiffs brought this action individually and on behalf of a class of direct purchasers of copper water tubing for damages allegedly sustained from the participation of defendant Mueller Brass Company (“Mueller”) in a price-fixing conspiracy in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, Mueller entered into an Agreement of Settlement with plaintiffs on April 5, 1985, and the court preliminarily approved this settlement on May 17, 1985. Upon due notice to members of the proposed settlement class, the court held a hearing on plaintiffs’ motion to approve this proposed settlement pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e) on September 9, 1985. No class members objected or asked to be heard. Upon full consideration of written submissions and oral arguments in support of the settlement, the court now approves the settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Although the civil action against Mueller was not filed until January 20, 1984, its genesis lies in a series of criminal and civil proceedings during several preceding years. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania began investigating alleged price-fixing in the copper water tubing industry in the summer of 1981. *494 On November 5, 1982, while the investigation was in progress, plaintiff Fisher Brothers filed a civil complaint against Cambridge-Lee Industries, Inc. (“Cambridge-Lee”), Cerro Copper Products, Inc. (“Cerro”), Halstead Industries, Inc. (“Hal-stead”), and Howell Metal Company, Inc. (“Howell”) (Civil Action No. 82-4921), that alleged defendants and other co-conspirators had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize the price of copper water tubing. Plaintiff also moved to certify the action as a class action on behalf of a putative class of direct purchasers of copper water tubing. 1

On March 18, 1983, the grand jury returned an indictment against six corporate defendants, Cambridge-Lee, Cerro, Phelps Dodge Industries, Inc. (“Phelps Dodge”), Reading, Revere Copper and Brass, Inc. and Revere Copper Products, Inc. (together known as the “Revere Companies”) and six present or former employees of some of these companies. The indictment alleged that the corporate and individual defendants had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to fix the price of copper water tubing from at least 1975 until June, 1981. 2 Mueller was not indicted, but the company and four of its former officers and employees were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Government’s Voluntary Bill of Particulars. 3

A nine-week criminal trial was held before The Honorable Daniel H. Huyett, 3rd, and on December 22, 1983 the jury found all defendants who went to trial not guilty. 4

Plaintiffs then filed this action against defendant Mueller on behalf of a putative class of direct purchasers of copper water tubing. The complaint alleged that Mueller unlawfully conspired with certain named and un-named co-conspirators to raise, fix, maintain and stabilize the prices and terms and conditions of sale of copper water tubing in violation of the antitrust laws. For pretrial purposes only, this court coordinated C.A. 84-413 with the other civil cases arising out of this alleged conspiracy. (See Pretrial Order No. 1 in C.A. 84-4921 (the “Master File case”), mailed to counsel for Mueller on February 23, 1984).

On July 6, 1984, the court granted plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class defined as:

All individuals, proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and other business entities in the United States (excluding defendant, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and its co-conspirators) who have, during the time period January 1, 1975 through November 30,1982 purchased copper water tubing directly from one or more of the defendant (including defendant’s subsidiaries and affiliates) or its co-conspirators. The term ‘copper water tubing’ does not include copper tubing manufactured to customer specification, which is sold primarily to original equipment manufacturers and is known in the industry as ‘industrial tubing.’

(Memorandum and Order of July 26, 1984).

Plaintiffs and Mueller conducted extensive discovery; thousands of documents were exchanged; many interrogatories *495 were answered; and numerous depositions were taken. Plaintiffs and Mueller also sought the court’s assistance in resolving numerous discovery disputes. Intermittently, counsel for plaintiffs and counsel for Mueller engaged in settlement negotiations.

By the end of 1984, plaintiffs had entered into settlement agreements with defendants Phelps Dodge, Howell, Halstead and the Revere Companies. After intensive negotiations, settlements were achieved with remaining defendants Cambridge-Lee (January 10, 1985), Cerro (February 7, 1985), and, finally, Mueller (April 5, 1985).

The Agreement of Settlement with Mueller provided that Mueller would pay $500,-000 in six installments of $83,333.33 each, with interest on the outstanding balance at the prime rate, with the final payment to be made on or before July 1, 1987. The Agreement was executed on behalf of a settlement class defined as the plaintiff class in this litigation, except that the settlement class was defined as those who purchased copper water tubing directly from “Mueller (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) or its alleged co-conspirators,” while the plaintiff class definition referred instead to “defendant (including defendant’s subsidiaries and affiliates) or its co-conspirators.”

The court held a hearing on plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of the settlement on April 18, 1985. The court preliminarily approved this settlement on May 17, 1985 and directed that notice of the proposed settlement be sent to the settlement class and published twice in all regional editions of The Wall Street Journal. Pursuant to the court’s Order, counsel for the class sent notice to all class members that a court hearing to determine whether the proposed Mueller settlement 5 was fair, reasonable and adequate would be held on September 9, 1985. The notice also stated that any member of the class could appear and. be heard at the hearing to object to the proposed settlement. Proof of mailing and publication of the notice was filed with the court on June 26, 1985 and supplemented by a status report on notices filed with the court on September 4, 1985. The September 9, 1985 hearing was held as scheduled.

The court, having considered the oral submissions of September 9, 1985 and the prior filings and record of this case, now determines upon an independent evaluation of the proposed Mueller settlement that it is fair, reasonable and adequate.

JURISDICTION TO APPROVE SETTLEMENT

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Automotive Refinishing Paint Antitrust Litigation
617 F. Supp. 2d 336 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2007)
In Re Rent-Way Securities Litigation
305 F. Supp. 2d 491 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 2003)
In Re Computron Software, Inc., Securities Litigation
6 F. Supp. 2d 313 (D. New Jersey, 1998)
Lazy Oil, Co. v. Witco Corp.
95 F. Supp. 2d 290 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 1997)
Ressler v. Jacobson
822 F. Supp. 1551 (M.D. Florida, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
630 F. Supp. 493, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fisher-brothers-inc-v-mueller-brass-co-paed-1985.