After much deliberation, a judge in Manhattan has dismissed a batch of class action lawsuits alleging that major players in the credit card industry colluded to break antitrust laws with the help of big firm lawyers.
In a lengthy ruling issued on Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Pauley III dismissed claims that the industry’s wholesale embrace of class action waivers in credit card customer agreements in the early 2000s grew out of an unlawful conspiracy. The ruling is a victory for three defendants—American Express Company; Discover Financial Services; and Citigroup Inc. Citi was named as a defendant because it was the prior owner of the charge card service Diners Club, which it sold to Discover in 2008.
