Lawsuit Against Cardboard-Makers OK'd

Several companies that make cardboard failed to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether an antitrust lawsuit against them should have been allowed to go forward.

The cardboard companies involved in the case include Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., Temple Inland Inc.'s Gaylord Container Corp. unit, Georgia Pacific Corp., International Paper Co., Packaging Corp. of America and other companies.

The high court's rejection of the petition means a trial over the antitrust allegations can now proceed.

The paper products companies were sued in 1998 by a number of smaller companies that purchase both cardboard boxes and cardboard sheeting. The purchasing companies, which include Garrett Paper Inc. and General Refractories Co., allege that the large paper companies conspired to cut the output of linerboard to drive up the price of cardboard sheeting and boxes.

Several suits were brought by both buyers of sheeting and purchasers of boxes, but the suits were combined into one class-action case and the litigation moved through the federal court.

A U.S. District Court judge in Pennsylvania certified the class-action suit and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the certification.

The case is Gaylord Container v. Garrett Paper.