Cases & Deals

Albertson's successfully defends California AG antitrust litigation related to labor union negotiations

Client(s) Albertson's, Inc.

Jones Day defended supermarket chain Albertson's, Inc. against antitrust claims asserted by the California Attorney General in connection with a "mutual strike assistance agreement" that Albertson's entered into with Vons and Ralphs, two other grocery store companies. The agreement related to the companies' joint negotiations with seven labor unions, which negotiations culminated in a five-month strike in 2003-04. The District Court ruled in defendants' favor. On March 22, 2011, Jones Day argued the case to an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the grocer defendants. On July 12, 2011, the en banc panel ruled in the grocers' favor, affirming the judgment.

State of California v. Safeway, Inc., et al., No. CV-04-0687 AG (C.D. Cal.), aff'd, --- F.3d ---, 2011 WL 2684942, No. 08-55708 (9th Cir., July 12, 2011) (en banc)