Kerry M. Gough, Trustee in Bankruptcy of Louis Rosen, Dba Walnut Creek Furniture v. Rossmoor Corporation

Plaintiff sued defendants for treble damages under section 4 of the Clayton Act ( 15 U.S.C. § 15 ) for violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act ( 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 , 2). The ease was submitted to the jury on special interrogatories. The jury responded that defendants had entered into a conspiracy to exclude plaintiff from the business of selling at retail in a local market products produced in other states, that they had restrained plaintiff’s retail business to his damage, but that their acts had not had “a substantial effect on interstate commerce or the flow of interstate commerce.” Because of this negative answer regarding the effect of defendants’ conduct on interstate commerce, the district court entered judgment for defendants. We reverse.

Plaintiff was sole proprietor of a retail store selling carpets, drapes, and household furniture in Walnut Creek, California. Defendants are two members of a group of corporations that buy and sell land and construct, sell, furnish and manage residential developments. These developments are referred to individually and collectively as “Rossmoor Leisure World.”

Defendant Rossmoor Corporation is the primary developer. Defendant…