Department of Water & Power of Los Angeles v. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.

These are numerous related antitrust .-actions brought under Section 4 of the ■Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 15 . Defendants have filed motions for partial summary judgment pursuant to Rules 54(b) .and 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and have moved under Rule 12 «(f), Fed.R.Civ.P. to strike certain allegations from plaintiffs’ complaints. Plaintiffs are several municipalities, state and local governmental agencies and industrial corporations who use electrical equipment produced by the defendants. Defendants include large national manufacturers of heavy electrical equipment.

The actions forming a basis for these motions arise out of the same alleged conspiracies which led to the indictment of manufacturers of electrical equipment products in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1960, followed by convictions in 1961. Similar antitrust suits have been instituted throughout the nation and are now pending.

The complaints seek treble damages under Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 15 , for alleged conspiracies in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1 . The complaints generally allege a conspiracy to fix…