Opinion ID: 167719
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to adequately plead an antitrust violation

Text: 50 Even if the Developers and Douglas were not immune under Parker and Noerr-Pennington, Bricktown, Inc. failed to allege sufficient facts to support its antitrust claim. Bricktown, Inc. alleges it adequately plead an antitrust violation because it clearly alleged that the Defendants engaged in a conspiracy scheme of bid-rigging (pre-determined before publication of bid), and that the submission of TMK/Hogan's RFP Proposal was collusive, fabricated, and non-competitive. (Corporate Br. at 31.) 51 A complaint is subject to dismissal where it does little more than recite the relevant antitrust laws. TV Commc'ns Network, Inc. v. Turner Network Television, Inc., 964 F.2d 1022, 1027 (10th Cir.1992) (internal quotation omitted). Conclusory allegations are insufficient. Id. at 1024. Bare bones accusations of a conspiracy without any supporting facts are insufficient to state an antitrust claim. Mountain View Pharmacy v. Abbott Labs., 630 F.2d 1383, 1388 (10th Cir.1980). Moreover, [t]he use of antitrust `buzz words' does not supply the factual circumstances necessary to support . . . conclusory allegations. TV Commc'ns, 964 F.2d at 1026. 52 Bid-rigging has been found to violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act when two or more competitors coordinate their bids to a third party. United States v. Mobile Materials, Inc., 881 F.2d 866, 869 (10th Cir.1989). However, Bricktown, Inc.'s bid-rigging antitrust claim suffers from the lack of factual support. 15 Its bald allegations of conspiracy and bid-rigging are insufficient to support an antitrust claim and are no better than claiming that the defendants violated the antitrust laws in the abstract. Indeed, Douglas had no economic interest in the Developers receiving the bid as she was not a competitor or owner, nor was there any evidence of bribery. At best, the conduct complained of includes the Developers' zealous lobbying of the city council to approve their proposed renovation plan. This conduct does not constitute collusion among competitors to fix a bid price, nor is there anything illegal about lobbying. Absent specific factual allegations that support a claim of bid-rigging, Bricktown, Inc.'s use of antitrust buzz-words and parroting of general antitrust theories is insufficient to support a Sherman Act violation. 53