Tom Lazio Fish Co., Inc. v. Castle & Cooke, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR AN ORDER DISMISSING DEFENDANTS’ PETITION FOR REMOVAL AND REMANDING TO STATE COURT

Plaintiff is a fish processing business in Eureka, California. Defendants are the major purchasers, processors, and marketers of albacore tuna on the west coast of North America. Defendant Castle & Cooke, Inc. is an Hawaiian corporation, which markets tuna under the “Bumble Bee” brand name; defendant Star-Kist Foods, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of defendant H.J. Heinz Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation, which markets tuna under the “Star-Kist” brand name; defendant Ralston Purina, Inc. is a Missouri corporation, which markets tuna under the brand name “Chicken-of-the-Sea”; defendant CHB Foods, Inc. is a California Corporation, which markets tuna under the brand name “Pan Pacific.”

On December 7, 1982, plaintiff filed this antitrust suit in Superior Court of the State of California, City and County of San Francisco, claiming violations of California’s Cartwright Act, Cal.Bus. & Prof.Code §§ 16700 et seq., and Unfair Trade Practices Act, CaLBus. & Prof.Code §§ 17000 et seq. Plaintiff claims that defendants unlawfully conspired to fix, raise, maintain,…