02/03/25 | WA Federal Judge Compels Amazon to Produce Documents Previously Marked as Privileged
On Feb. 3, 2025, Washington federal Judge John H. Chun granted in part of plaintiffs' motion to compel the production of documents from Amazon’s privilege logs in the pending cases Brown et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., De Coster et al. v. Amazon.com, and Frame-Wilson et al. v. Amazon.com Inc. As reported by Law360, Amazon had initially provided plaintiffs with privilege logs which included over 132,000 claims of privilege. But after a re-review, Amazon "downgraded" at least 61,000 of those privilege claims. Plaintiffs allege that the underlying problem was that Amazon appeared to have a policy to instruct employees to falsely mark documents as privileged and then those documents got withheld in litigation. Judge Chun ordered Amazon to complete its review of all withheld documents and produce any that cannot clearly demonstrate that the primary purpose of the communication was to seek or provide legal advice, by Feb. 25, 2025.
Do you regularly buy from Amazon.com? An alleged price-fixing scheme means you might be overpaying, and you may have rights to compensation. Fill out the form to find out »
Hagens Berman’s financial experts have discovered that consumer products at Amazon may be subject to price increases that allegedly violate antitrust laws. We believe millions of consumers overpaid for online purchases on Amazon.com because of this alleged price-fixing and monopolizing conduct and that those who unknowingly paid high prices for online purchases deserve compensation.
PRODUCTS
- Apparel/Clothing: All clothing, women’s, men’s, children’s apparel, brand-name and non-branded, shoes, accessories, purses, luggage, sunglasses.
- Home & Kitchen Goods: Furniture, appliances, dining wares, storage and organization, bedding, lighting, décor.
- Beauty & Personal Care: Vitamins and supplements, hygiene items including dental care, soap and skincare, baby and childcare items, medical supplies, and health and wellness products.
- And more.
AM I AFFECTED?
Amid inflation, economic shifts and supply chain issues, Amazon’s price-fixing and monopolizing practices have likely gone undetected by most purchasers, unable to tell if price increases were caused by other factors. Hagens Berman’s team of economic experts and forensic accountants have reviewed various datasets to reveal alleged price-fixing and monopolization by Amazon. We believe products in apparel, home/kitchen goods and personal care categories are likely affected, and that consumers have paid higher prices than what the market would have dictated.
AMAZON FACTS & FIGURES
- Amazon is the world's largest online retailer.
- Amazon's two largest online competitors have only 7.1% and 4.3% share of the US online retail market.
- More than 340 million products are sold on Amazon Marketplace, including sales by Amazon and 2.4 million other online retail sellers.
- Amazon’s share of sales on online retail marketplaces in the US may be as high as 90%.
- Sales on Amazon Marketplace account for over half of all U.S. retail e-commerce.
- Before making a purchase 82% of consumers check Amazon’s prices
- 96% of Amazon Prime customers are more likely to buy goods from Amazon Marketplace.
TOP CONSUMER RIGHTS FIRM
Hagens Berman is one of the most successful consumer litigation law firms in the U.S. and has achieved more than $320 billion in settlements for consumers in lawsuits against Big Tech, retailers, food corporations, automakers, big banks and others. Hagens Berman has achieved many record-breaking victories in antitrust matters, and your claim will be handled by attorneys experienced in consumer law.
NO COST TO YOU
In no case will any class member ever be asked to pay any out-of-pocket sum. In the event Hagens Berman or any other firm obtains a settlement that provides benefits to class members, the court will decide a reasonable fee to be awarded to the class's legal team.
CASE TIMELINE
Judge John H. Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington denied in full Amazon’s motion to dismiss antitrust claims regarding the company’s use of minimum margin agreements (MMAs) with suppliers. Judge Chun ruled that “Plaintiffs have adequately pleaded antitrust injury and direct injury,” and “The complaint states facts that, if taken as true, suffice to allege that the conduct at issue—Amazon’s MMAs—results in reduced consumer choices and an increase in prices of products bought by consumers.” The court rejected all of the grounds on which Amazon sought dismissal of the lawsuit, and all claims brought forth by the consumers will be allowed to proceed.
California attorney general, Rob Bonta, has filed a similar case against Amazon, repeating claims brought by Hagens Berman in its most recent antitrust cases against Amazon. In the state AG’s Sept. 14, 2022 filing, Bonta highlights Amazon’s agreements that thwart competition by agreement with its third-party sellers and by agreement with its suppliers. Since March of 2020, Hagens Berman has trailblazed antitrust cases against Amazon related to consumer price-fixing and monopoly claims: De Coster v. Amazon.com, Inc.; Brown v. Amazon.com, Inc; and Frame-Wilson v. Amazon.com, Inc.
Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and attorney for consumers in the four class actions related to the AG’s case, said of the new filing, “We are pleased to see California’s attorney general has joined the fight we started in 2020 over Amazon’s unlawful tactics that have greatly harmed consumers. The proposed class actions we filed paved the way for additional antitrust actions against Amazon, and we believe consumers will reap the rewards of this collective action.”
