US: Lawsuit alleges price-fixing among gas distributors

A class action lawsuit filed in Chittenden Superior Court on Monday by the Washington law office of Bailey Glasser LLP and Burlington Law Practice PLLC, claims that gas distributors R.L. Vallee, Inc., SB Collins, Inc., Champlain Farms/Wesco, Inc. and Champlain, Inc. conspired to illegally fix gasoline prices in northwestern Vermont.

“These companies have had extraordinary profits that cannot be explained by legitimate market forces. At times, those profits have been twice the national average,” a news release from the law firms said. “During its study, the FTC concluded that gas prices in Greater Burlington in late June 2012 were 10 to 43 cents a gallon higher than reliable computer models would predict.”

Bailey & Glasser’s Boston, Chicago, and Washington offices filed the class action lawsuit June 22 in conjunction with Joshua Simonds of the Burlington Law Practice, PLLC, who will serve as counsel to the plaintiff and the putative class.

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