A group of major merchants that opted out of a $5.7 billion antitrust settlement with Visa and MasterCard have cleared a hurdle in their case against the card companies and issuing banks over swipe fees. On Friday Brooklyn U.S. District Judge John Gleeson denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss in a handwritten order after oral arguments.
The plaintiff companies maintain that they paid billions in excessive interchange fees fixed by Visa, MasterCard and colluding banks from Jan. 1, 2004, through Nov. 27, 2012. Constantine Cannon represents a large group of businesses, including 7-Eleven Inc, Costco Wholesale Co. and Amazon.com Inc. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is separately represented by Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.
