Passenger price-fixing case dismissed on subject matter
jurisdiction grounds  November 2, 2009  McLafferty v. Deutsche
Lufthansa A.G. et al. (E.D. Pa. Oct. 16, 2009).  In her class
action complaint, the plaintiff alleged that Lufthansa, Air
France, KLM and Alitalia had engaged in price fixing in
violation of the Sherman Act.  She alleged that, at a 2003 IATA
meeting, the airlines agreed to impose surcharges on fares for
passenger travel between Europe and Japan.  At the court’s
direction, the parties briefed the issue of whether the Foreign
Trade Antitrust Improvements Act of 1982, which amended the
Sherman Act, excluded the case from the subject matter
jurisdiction of the federal courts.  The FTAIA amended the
Sherman Act by excluding certain conduct involving trade or
commerce with foreign nations from federal courts’ subject
matter jurisdiction.  In cases involving alleged restraints on
commerce with foreign nations, the court first determines if the
defendants’ conduct involved “trade or commerce (other t