Opinion ID: 4530507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Attorney General’s Complaint

Text: ¶3. On October 9, 2015, Attorney General Jim Hood,2 on behalf of the State, sued nine3 automotive component-parts manufacturers in Hinds County Chancery Court. The State alleged these manufacturers—all manufacturing in the United States but not in Mississippi—had been part of an illegal cartel that fixed the prices of Automotive Wire Harness Systems (AWHS)—the electrical distribution system for motor vehicles. ¶4. According to the complaint, the defendants sold AWHS to motor vehicle originalequipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers to OEMs, and distributors. While the complaint explained that “OEMs include domestic OEMs such as the Big Three in Detroit (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) and non-domestic OEMs who also operate manufacturing plants” such as “Nissan and Toyota manufactur[ing] cars in Mississippi,” the complaint did not allege any defendant directly sold AWHS to the Nissan or Toyota plant in Mississippi during the relevant time period. Rather, the complaint alleged that “[s]uppliers purchased Automotive Wire Harness Systems directly from Defendants or their co-conspirators, which they then sold to OEMs or other suppliers to OEMs.” ¶5. Ultimately, the AWHS were installed in vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States. The State alleged that Mississippians, by buying some of these vehicles, had indirectly purchased the defendants’ inflated AWHS. Mississippians had also indirectly purchased 2 While this appeal was pending, Lynn Fitch was elected Mississippi’s attorney general and assumed that role in this litigation. 3 Originally, the State sued ten separate defendants but soon after stipulated to the dismissal of one defendant. 5 replacement AWHS from an auto-parts supplier. ¶6. The State based its illegal-cartel allegations specifically on the federal criminal prosecutions of several of the defendant manufacturers’ Japanese parent companies— prosecutions that ended three years earlier. In 2012, executives for the parent companies entered a series of guilty pleas, admitting to meeting with the executives of other companies to discuss bids, fix prices, and allocate supplies of AWHS sold to United States automobile manufacturers. The conspiracy began in early 2000 and lasted until January 2010. As part of their guilty pleas, two of the parent companies agreed respectively to pay $200 million and $470 million in fines ¶7. Citing the actions of defendants’ Japanese parent companies, the State alleged the defendant United States manufacturers were part of a conspiracy to restrain trade, increase the price, and hinder competition of AWHS in the United States generally and Mississippi specifically. The State claimed this supposed agreement violated the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act (MCPA). The State also alleged the defendants had violated the Mississippi Antitrust Act (MAA). Finally, the State alleged a civil conspiracy.