The lawsuit alleges that Defendants engaged in illegal anticompetitive conduct with respect to the sale of Containerboard Products and that, as a result, any person or entity that purchased Containerboard Products directly from any Defendant during the Class Period paid a higher price than otherwise would have been the case in a competitive market. Defendants deny Plaintiffs’ allegations, and there has been no ruling on the merits of the claims or defenses. As used in the lawsuit, Containerboard Products means linerboard, corrugated medium, rollstock corrugated sheets and corrugated products, including displays, boxes and other containers.
The current status of the lawsuit is as follows:
- International Paper Company, Temple Inland, Inc. and Weyerhaeuser Co. have agreed to pay $354,000,000,
subject to a contingent and time-limited provision in the Settlement Agreement
providing for a potential reduction of up to $118,000,000, and to provide
certain other consideration in settlement of the case against them. Settling
Defendants deny any liability. A Fairness Hearing for final approval of the
settlement is scheduled to be held on October 17, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.
before Judge Harry Leinenweber at the United States Courthouse for the Northern
District of Illinois, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, Illinois in courtroom 1941.
- On August 3, 2017, the Court granted summary
judgment in favor of Georgia-Pacific and Smurfit-Stone (“Non-Settling
Defendants”). Plaintiffs have 30 days from the date judgment was entered
to file notice of an intent to appeal the decision, but there is no guarantee
that an appeal, if taken, would be successful in changing the result. The time
to complete appellate proceedings is difficult to predict but could be a year
or more.
- Settlements were previously
reached with Defendants Packaging Corporation of America (for $17.6 million)
and Cascades Canada ULC/Norampac Holdings U.S. Inc. (for $4.8 million). No
distributions have been made to class members from these settlements. The time
period to request to be excluded from the prior settlements has expired.
- On or before August 28, 2017 Class Counsel will
submit to the Court a proposed plan of distribution as well as a petition for
an interim payment of attorneys’ fees. These pleadings will be posted on the
case website when they are filed. Copies will also be available on the case
docket.
- On March 26, 2015, the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Illinois certified the Class for purposes of
litigating the merits of this case, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed this
ruling on August 4, 2016. You may be a member of the Certified Litigation Class
if you purchased Containerboard Products directly from any of the Defendants or
their subsidiaries or affiliates for use or delivery in the United States from
at least as early as February 15, 2004, through November 8, 2010.
For purposes of determining whether you are affected by the Proposed Settlement, it does not matter from which Defendant you purchased Containerboard Products, so long as you purchased directly from at least one Defendant at any time during the Class Period for use or delivery in the United States.
If your address has changed, please contact the Administrator using the information set forth below.
Containerboard Products Class Action
c/o A.B. Data, Ltd.
P.O. Box 173014
Milwaukee, WI 53217
1-888-764-8864
info@containerboardproductscase.com