Grabar Law Office acts as co-counsel in a class action that alleges that the defendants, Henry Schein, Inc., Patterson Companies, Inc., and Benco Dental Supply Company, who collectively control close to 90 percent of the dental supplies and equipment distribution market, conspired to restrain trade and fix prices at anticompetitive levels, in violation of the Sherman Act. As alleged, in furtherance of their conspiracy, the defendants colluded to boycott and pressure dental manufacturers, dental distributors, and state dental associations that did business with or considered doing business with the defendants’ lower-priced rivals. By foreclosing their competitors’ access to key market participants, the defendants were able to stifle competition and impair competition. As alleged, the defendants also adopted nearly identical pricing and compensation policies, adopted policies limiting their ability to hire each other’s sales representatives, and exchanged pricing information to preserve and monitor their cartelized prices. The suit claims that as a result of the defendants’ anticompetitive conduct, members of the class were overcharged on dental supplies and equipment.
On September 28, 2016, the District Court denied a motion to dismiss brought by defendants Henry Schein, Inc., Patterson Companies, Inc., and Benco Dental Supply Company, and ruled that the case could proceed.
