A federal appeals court has set aside a $295 million settlement of a class action antitrust suit alleging a price-fixing conspiracy in the international market for diamonds that was allegedly orchestrated by the De Beers group of companies headquartered in South Africa.
In its 75-page opinion in Sullivan v. DB Investments Inc., the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the settlement must be vacated because the lower court had improperly certified a nationwide class of indirect purchasers despite recognizing that some of those plaintiffs would be barred from pursuing such indirect claims under the laws of their own states.
