Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro: Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Korean Air Lines
10 Agosto 2007 - 7:05PM
PR Newswire (US)
Plaintiff claims suffered damages in Korean Air Lines price fixing
conspiracy SEATTLE, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Seattle-based law firm
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro filed a class action lawsuit against
Korean Air Lines (NYSE:KAL) on August 8, 2007 on behalf of
passengers claiming the airline illegally conspired with
competitors to fix pricing for flights between the United States
and Korea for both airline passengers and cargo flights. The
complaint claims the airline is in violation of both the Sherman
Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, the first of which
Korean Air has admitted guilt to in a deal with the U.S. Justice
Department's antitrust division and has agreed to a $300 million
fine for its actions. The fine is the first in the antitrust
division's investigation into the airline industry. British Airways
was also levied a $300 million fine for price fixing on passenger
flights. "There is no doubt that the airline industry is highly
competitive, but we think trying to make a profit by price fixing
is wrong," said lead attorney and HBSS managing partner, Steve
Berman. "It appears that legal action like ours is the only way to
get their attention and stop these practices." The named plaintiff,
James Van Horn, filed the suit on behalf of himself and all others
who purchased a ticket on Korean Air from January 1, 2000 until at
least July 16, 2006. Van Horn is seeking redress for the increased
pricing of passenger air transportation as a result of "the illegal
combination and conspiracy" to inflate prices which was agreed upon
between Korean Air and its unnamed co-conspirators. The filed
complaint goes on to state the "defendant and its co-conspirators
entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy to
suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the price for
passenger air fares." "We know from our investigation that this
alleged practice could have impacted hundreds of thousands of
travelers in the U.S. and Korea," said Berman. "Six years is a long
time to be charging artificially inflated prices and we want those
customers to be rightfully reimbursed." The suit was filed in U.S.
District Court in Seattle and seeks compensatory, statutory and
exemplary relief for damages suffered by the plaintiff and the
proposed class. According to the filed complaint the single count
being held against the airline is a violation of the Sherman Act.
About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro The law firm of Hagens Berman
Sobol Shapiro is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago,
Cambridge, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Since the firm's
founding in 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice
in class-action and complex litigation. Among recent successes,
HBSS has negotiated a pending $300 million settlement as lead
counsel in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation; a $340 million
recovery on behalf of Enron employees which is awaiting
distribution; a $150 million settlement involving charges of
illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as
co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3
billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS
also served as counsel in a $850 million settlement in the
Washington Public Power Supply litigation and represented
Washington and 12 other states in lawsuits against the tobacco
industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the history of
litigation. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit
http://www.hbsslaw.com/. CONTACTS: Steve Berman (206) 623-7292 Mark
Firmani (206) 443-9357 Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Firmani +
Associates Inc. DATASOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro CONTACT:
Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, +1-206-623-7292, ; or
Mark Firmani of Firmani + Associates Inc., +1-206-443-9357, , for
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Web site: http://www.hbsslaw.com/
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