The D.C. Circuit today vacated class certification in an antitrust case on behalf of firms that paid fuel surcharges on top of basic charges to freight railroads. In re Rail Freight Fuel Surcharge Antitrust Litig., No. 12-7085 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 9, 2013). The court cited what it called the “propensity toward false positives” of the class’s damages model. The panel also relied on Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1426 (2013), which likewise rejected an antitrust damages model.
Direct buyers of rail freight services may now wish to look at pursuing individual claims. Or they can wait to see what happens on remand. But for now the statute of limitations clock may have started ticking again.