NIBCO Inc. v. Viega LLC

354 F. Supp. 3d 566
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 5, 2018
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:17-CV-1739
StatusPublished

This text of 354 F. Supp. 3d 566 (NIBCO Inc. v. Viega LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
NIBCO Inc. v. Viega LLC, 354 F. Supp. 3d 566 (M.D. Pa. 2018).

Opinion

NIBCO alleges that Viega has wielded its dominance in the carbon steel press fittings market to control the copper press fittings market. (Id. ¶ 71). NIBCO avers that Viega has made sale of its carbon steel press fittings contingent on the customer's agreement not to purchase copper press fittings from NIBCO. (See id. ¶ 72). NIBCO also avers that, in some instances, Viega charges penalties in the form of lost discounts or outright higher prices to those customers who continue to stock copper press fittings from NIBCO. (Id. ¶¶ 73, 115).

To illustrate these claims, NIBCO identifies seven examples of wholesale distributors who have purportedly stopped selling NIBCO's copper press fittings in response to Viega's threats. Those examples are:

• Weinstein Supply Company ("Weinstein"), a wholesaler distributing products throughout the northeast United States, a branch of which stocked NIBCO's copper press fittings until a customer required carbon steel press fittings and Viega forced Weinstein to drop NIBCO's copper press fittings line in order to obtain Viega's carbon steel press fittings;
• Moore Supply Company ("Moore Supply"), a wholesale distributor with locations throughout Texas, which carried NIBCO's copper press fittings until Viega threatened to cut off supply of its carbon steel press fittings if several Moore Supply branches did not stop carrying NIBCO's copper press fittings line;
• Mid-City Supply Co., Inc. ("Mid-City Supply"), a wholesale distributor located in Indiana, which stocked NIBCO's copper press fittings until 2015, when it switched to Viega because "Viega would not sell its carbon steel press fittings unless Mid-City [Supply] agreed to drop NIBCO's copper press fittings from its inventory";
• American Pipe & Supply Company ("American Pipe"), a wholesale distributor located in Alabama, which dropped NIBCO's copper press fittings in 2015 because customers were in need of carbon steel press fittings and Viega would not supply them unless American Pipe stopped carrying NIBCO's copper press fittings and stocked Viega's instead;
• Charles D. Sheehy, Inc. ("Sheehy, Inc."), a wholesale distributor in Massachusetts selling product throughout New England, which was forced by Viega to stop carrying NIBCO's copper press fittings and carry only Viega's copper press fittings in order to purchase Viega's carbon steel press fittings to fulfill customer requests;
• Peabody Supply Company ("Peabody"), a wholesale distributor with locations throughout Massachusetts, a branch of which was visited by a Viega representative for an inventory check in March 2017 and during which visit the Viega representative advised Peabody staff "that Viega would pull its carbon steel press fittings line from all of Peabody's branches if any of them stocked NIBCO's copper press fittings"; and
• Western Nevada Supply ("Western Nevada"), a wholesale distributor *575with locations in Nevada and California, which Viega forced to convert from NIBCO's copper press fittings to Viega's copper press fittings in order to stock Viega's carbon steel press fittings.

(Id. ¶¶ 77-102). NIBCO alleges that it has lost sales with these distributors and others as a result of Viega's conduct. (Id. ¶¶ 76, 79, 85, 88, 91, 95, 99, 102, 108-110). NIBCO also alleges that free market competition is harmed by Viega's conduct in that Viega (1) denies competitors free access to the market for copper press fittings not on merit but because of its power in the carbon steel press fittings market, (2) forces engineers, contractors, and wholesale distributors to forego their free choice among manufacturers and to pay a higher price, and (3) deprives consumers of NIBCO's "pro-competitive and price-lowering influence" in the copper press fittings market. (Id. ¶¶ 104, 106).

D. Procedural History

NIBCO commenced this action with the filing of a five-count complaint. NIBCO asserts the following causes of action: in Count I, a claim for unlawful tying in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 ("Sherman Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 1, and Section 3 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 ("Clayton Act"), 15 U.S.C. § 14 ; in Count II, a claim alleging contracts in restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 ; in Counts III and IV, respectively, claims for monopolization and attempted monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, and in Count V, a claim under Pennsylvania law for tortious interference with existing and prospective business relations. Viega moves to dismiss the complaint in its entirety. The motion is fully briefed and ripe for disposition.1

II. Legal Standard

Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides for the dismissal of complaints that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). When ruling on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the court must "accept all factual allegations as true, construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, and determine whether, under any reasonable reading of the complaint, the plaintiff may be entitled to relief." Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 233 (3d Cir. 2008) (quoting Pinker v. Roche Holdings, Ltd., 292 F.3d 361, 374 n.7 (3d Cir. 2002) ). In addition to reviewing the facts contained in the complaint, the court may also consider "matters of public record, orders, exhibits attached to the complaint and items appearing in the record of the case." Mayer v. Belichick, 605 F.3d 223, 230 (3d Cir. 2010) (citing Pension Benefit Guar. Corp. v. White Consol. Indus., Inc., 998 F.2d 1192, 1196 (3d Cir. 1993) ).

Federal notice and pleading rules require the complaint to provide "the defendant fair notice of what the ... claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Phillips

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Bluebook (online)
354 F. Supp. 3d 566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nibco-inc-v-viega-llc-pamd-2018.