In re Pool Products Distribution Market Antitrust Litigation

Labaton Sucharow filed the first lawsuit in the country on behalf of a proposed class of businesses that purchased residential and commercial swimming pool products (“Pool Products”) directly from Pool Corporation and its subsidiaries (“PoolCorp”). Plaintiffs allege that, between January 1, 2003 and the present, defendants participated in unlawful anticompetitive conduct to keep new competitors out of local distribution markets across the United States.

As part of a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, PoolCorp agreed to immediately stop any anticompetitive activity it had been using to keep out new competitors in local markets around the nation on November 21, 2011. The settlement order also requires PoolCorp to put in place an antitrust compliance program to ensure it does not violate the terms of the order in the future.

On April 17, 2012, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the twenty-seven cases pending across the country to the Eastern District of Louisiana before the Honorable Sarah Vance for consolidation and coordinated pretrial proceedings.