Heating Control Panels Third Consolidated Amended Class
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2:12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM Doc # 229 Filed 03/30/17 Pg 1 of 102 Pg ID 8249 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION IN RE AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ANTITRUST LITIGATION : Master File No. 12-md-02311 : H: 12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM PRODUCT(S): : THIRD CONSOLIDATED AMENDED HEATING CONTROL PANELS CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT : : JURY TRIAL DEMANDED This Document Relates to: : ALL END-PAYOR ACTIONS : : 2:12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM Doc # 229 Filed 03/30/17 Pg 2 of 102 Pg ID 8250 Plaintiffs Halley Ascher, Gregory Asken, Kimberly Bennett, Kent Busek, Rita Cornish, Lori Curtis, Theresia Dillard, Jane Fitzgerald, Carroll Gibbs, Dori Gilels, Gary Arthur Herr, Elizabeth Kaufman, Michelle McGinn, Rebecca Lynn Morrow, Whitney Porter, Erica J. Shoaf, Arthur Stukey, Tom Halverson, Melissa Barron, John Hollingsworth, Ifeoma Adams, Meetesh Shah, Jane Taylor, Jennifer Chase, Darrel Senior, James Marean, Ron Blau, Roger Olson, , Darcy Sherman, Curtis Gunnerson, David Bernstein, Robert Klingler, Jessica DeCastro, Nathan Croom, Edward Muscara, Michael Wick, Ian Groves, Tenisha Burgos, Jason Grala, Kathleen Tawney, Curtis Harr, Cindy Prince, Frances Gammell-Roach, Andrew Hedlund, William Dale Picotte, Alena Farrell, Janne Rice, Robert Rice, Stacey Nickell, Carol Ann Kashishian, Kelly Klosterman, Sophie O’Keefe-Zelman, Keith Uehara, and Phillip Young (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated (the “Classes”, as defined below), upon personal knowledge as to the facts pertaining to them and upon information and belief as to all other matters, based on the investigation of counsel, bring this class action for damages, injunctive relief and other relief pursuant to federal antitrust laws and state antitrust, unfair competition, consumer protection, and unjust enrichment laws. Plaintiffs demand a trial by jury, and allege as follows: I. NATURE OF ACTION 1. This lawsuit is brought as a proposed class action against Defendants DENSO Corporation and DENSO International America, Inc. (together, “DENSO Defendants” or “DENSO”);; Tokai Rika, Co. Ltd. and TRAM, Inc. d/b/a/ Tokai Rika U.S.A. Inc. (together, “Tokai Rika Defendants” or “Tokai Rika”); and Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Alps Electric (North America), Inc. and Alps Automotive Inc. (together, “Alps Defendants” or “Alps”) (collectively, “Defendants”), and Co-conspirator Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Sumitomo Electric 1 2:12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM Doc # 229 Filed 03/30/17 Pg 3 of 102 Pg ID 8251 Wintec America, Inc., Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd., Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems, Inc., K&S Wiring Systems, Inc. and Sumitomo Wiring Systems (U.S.A.) (together, “Sumitomo Co-conspirators” or “Sumitomo”)1, each defined below, for engaging in a nearly decade-long conspiracy to unlawfully fix, artificially raise, maintain and/or stabilize prices, rig bids for, and allocate the market and customers in the United States for Heating Control Panels (“HCPs”) (defined below). According to the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Defendants’ conspiracy successfully targeted the long-struggling United States automotive industry, raising prices for car manufacturers and consumers alike. 2. HCPs are located in the center console, back seat, or rear cabin of an automobile and control the temperature of the interior environment of a vehicle. HCPs are either mechanical or electrical. Electrical HCPs are either manual (referred to as low-grade) or automatic (referred to as high-grade); HCPs may also be referred to as mid-grade or super-high grade. 3. Plaintiffs seek to represent all persons and entities who, during the period from and including January 1, 2000 through such time as the anticompetitive effects of the Defendants’ conduct ceased (the “Class Period”) purchased or leased a new vehicle in the United States not for resale which included one or more HCP(s) as a component part, or indirectly purchased one or more HCP(s) as a replacement part, which were manufactured or sold by the Defendants, any current or former subsidiary of the Defendants, or any-co- conspirator of the Defendants. 1 Plaintiffs previously named Sumitomo as Defendants in this action. Plaintiffs subsequently entered into a settlement with Sumitomo, which was finally approved by the Court on June 20, 2016. See e.g., Opinion and Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, 2:12-cv-00403, ECF No. 190. For purposes of this Amended Complaint, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Sumitomo is referred to as co-conspirator instead of defendant. 2 2:12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM Doc # 229 Filed 03/30/17 Pg 4 of 102 Pg ID 8252 4. Defendants manufacture, market, and sell HCPs throughout and into the United States. Defendants and other co-conspirators (as yet unknown) agreed, combined, and conspired to fix, raise, maintain and/or stabilize prices, and allocate the market and customers in the United States for HCPs. 5. The U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division is currently conducting a broad criminal investigation into illegal price-fixing and bid-rigging in the automotive parts industry. As part of its criminal investigation, the DOJ is seeking information about unlawful anticompetitive conduct in the market for a number of different but related automotive parts, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) has participated in raids, pursuant to search warrants, carried out in the offices of a number of major competitors in the automotive parts industry. The automotive parts investigation is the largest criminal investigation the Antitrust Division has ever pursued, both in terms of its scope and its impact on American consumers and businesses. The ongoing cartel investigation of price-fixing and bid-rigging in the automotive parts industry has yielded $2.4 billion in criminal fines to date. DENSO Pleads Guilty to Price-Fixing HCPs 6. As more fully alleged herein, Defendant DENSO Corporation has pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids and allocate the market for HCPs from at least as early as January 2000 and continuing until at least February 2010, and has agreed to pay a $78 million criminal fine related to its unlawful participation in the price-fixing and bid- rigging conspiracies. DENSO, its high-level personnel and their co-conspirators, participated in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the automotive parts industry by agreeing to fix, raise, maintain and/or stabilize prices, rig bids and allocate the market and customers in the United States for HCPs. Defendant DENSO (a) participated in 3 2:12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM Doc # 229 Filed 03/30/17 Pg 5 of 102 Pg ID 8253 meetings with competitors where agreements were reached to allocate the supply of HCPs on a model-by-model basis, (b) rigged bids quoted to automobile manufacturers, and (c) agreed with competitors to fix, stabilize and maintain prices, including price adjustments requested by manufacturers. The combination and conspiracy engaged in by DENSO and their co- conspirators was an unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1. 7. As part of its plea agreement, DENSO agreed, on behalf of itself and its wholly- owned or majority controlled subsidiaries, to assist the DOJ in its ongoing criminal investigation into the automotive parts industry. Tokai Rika Pleads Guilty to Price-Fixing HCPs 8. As more fully alleged herein, Defendant Tokai Rika Co., Ltd. has pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of HCPs from at least as early as September 2003 and continuing until at least February 2010, and has agreed to pay a $17.7 million criminal fine related to its unlawful participation in the price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracies involving HCPs. Tokai Rika, its high-level personnel and their co-conspirators participated in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the automotive parts industry by agreeing to fix, raise, maintain, and/or stabilize prices, rig bids, and allocate the market and customers in the United States for HCPs. Defendant Tokai Rika (a) participated in meetings with competitors where agreements were reached to allocate the supply of HCPs on a model-by-model basis, (b) rigged bids quoted to automobile manufacturers, and (c) agreed with competitors to fix, stabilize and maintain prices, including price adjustments requested by manufacturers. Defendant Tokai Rika also pleaded guilty to one of its executives, acting on its behalf, destroying evidence relevant to the DOJ’s investigation, including 4 2:12-cv-00403-MOB-MKM Doc # 229 Filed 03/30/17 Pg 6 of 102 Pg ID 8254 electronic data and paper documents “likely to contain evidence of antitrust crimes.” Some of the destroyed data is “non-recoverable.” The combination and conspiracy engaged in by Tokai Rika and their co-conspirators was an unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1. 9. As part of its plea agreement, Tokai Rika agreed, on its own behalf and on behalf of its subsidiaries, to assist the DOJ in its ongoing criminal investigation into the automotive parts industry. 10. The Defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition in the automotive parts industry by agreeing to rig bids for, and to fix, stabilize and maintain the prices of HCPs sold to automobile manufacturers and others in the United States. The combination and conspiracy engaged in by the Defendants and their co-conspirators was in unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, and state antitrust, unfair competition, consumer protection and unjust enrichment laws. 11. As a direct result of the anti-competitive and unlawful conduct alleged herein, Plaintiffs and the Classes (as defined below) paid artificially inflated prices for HCPs during the Class Period and have thereby suffered antitrust injury to their business or property.