After a federal jury in Houston awarded MM Steel, a metals service center in Houston that has closed its doors, $52 million in an antitrust lawsuit, MM Steel filed a motion on April 4 seeking a judgment with treble damages totaling $156 million.
In a March 25 verdict, a jury in U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt’s court in Houston found that metals service centers American Alloy Steel Inc., Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., and Reliance’s wholly owned division Chapel Steel Corp. conspired to persuade, induce or coerce steel mills not to sell steel plate to MM Steel; the jury also found that Arthur Moore, American Alloy’s president, did personally “approve, authorize, ratify, or participate” in the conspiracy. The jury found that JSW Steel (USA) Inc. and Nucor Corp. knowingly joined the conspiracy. Further, the jury found that the conspiracy was a “material cause of injury” to MM Steel’s business and awarded the company $52 million in damages.
