Sherman Act Violation – Failure to State Claim

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Always Towing & Recovery, Inc., et al., v. City of Milwaukee, et al.,

Case No.: 20-3261

Officials: FLAUM, SCUDDER, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sherman Act Violation – Failure to State Claim

This case is about the scrap metal recycling business—the collection and processing of ferrous (iron-based) and nonferrous metals. Plaintiffs-appellants, an assortment of companies that tow or recycle used cars, allege that defendants-appellees, the City of Milwaukee (“the City”) and its subcontractor, engaged in anticompetitive behavior to self-allocate towing services and abandoned vehicles, a primary input in that industry.

Among other claims, plaintiffs allege that a contract the City entered into with one of the area’s largest recycling providers, defendant-appellee Miller Compressing Co., violates § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. Plaintiffs assert that the contract provided direct evidence of an agreement to restrain trade. We agree with the district court’s judgment that plaintiffs failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted because they did not plead an unreasonable restraint on trade, and we therefore now affirm.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.