Reyn's Pasta Bella, LLC v. Visa USA, Inc.

Plaintiffs Reyn’s Pasta Bella, LLC; Jeffrey Ledon Deweese; Barry Leonard, dba Critter Fritters; and- Hat-In-The-Ring Inc., dba Eddie Rickenbacker’s appeal from the dismissal of their complaint seeking damages and injunctive relief for Defendants’ alleged antitrust violations. They claim that Defendants Visa USA, Inc. (Visa); MasterCard International, Inc. (MasterCard); Bank of America, N.A. (USA); Wells Fargo Bank NA; and U.S. Bank, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp fixed prices on credit— and debit-card transactions in violation of section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 . The district court found that Plaintiffs’ claims were released by the class action settlement in In re Visa Check/Mastermoney Antitrust Litig., 297 F.Supp.2d 503 (E.D.N.Y.2003) (Wal-Mart I), aff'd sub nom., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Visa USA Inc., 396 F.3d 96 (2d Cir.2005) (Wal-Mart II). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm. We hold that issue preclusion bars Plaintiffs from re-litigating the Wal-Mart courts’ determination that Plaintiffs’ price- fixing claims were properly released. We also hold, in the alternative, that Plaintiffs’ claims are extinguished by the Wal-Mart settlement because…