William Inglis & Sons Baking Co. v. ITT Continental Baking Co.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Plaintiff William Inglis & Sons Baking Co. (hereinafter Inglis) was an independent wholesale baker in the San Joaquin Valley prior to going out of business in April 1976. It manufactured and distributed bread and bread-type rolls in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento Valley, the San Joaquin Valley, parts of the Mother Lode country and of Lake Tahoe.

In 1971, Inglis and several other bakers brought this action against competing independent wholesale bakers alleging antitrust violations in the Northern California, Southern California and the Northwest markets. In 1977, this court ordered separate trials for each market. Trial for the Northern California market commenced in March 1978. This trial involved plaintiff Inglis and defendants ITT Continental Baking Co. (hereinafter Continental) and American Bakeries Co. A third Northern California market defendant, Campbell-Taggart, entered into a settlement agreement with the plaintiff prior to trial.

After a five-week trial, the jury returned a verdict against defendant Continental in the amount of $4,416,474 on the claims brought pursuant to § 2 of the Sherman Act ( 15 U.S.C. § 2 ) and the…