DOJ Asks DC Court to Reconsider Amazon Antitrust Case Dismissal

If the D.C. Superior Court doesn’t reconsider dismissing an antitrust complaint against Amazon, it risks jeopardizing antitrust enforcement in the district, DOJ argued Wednesday in 2021 CA 001775 B (see 2204140051). D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) sued Amazon, claiming that through its significant market power, it set agreements with merchants that artificially inflate prices on the platform. Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo orally dismissed Racine’s complaint at a hearing last month. The dismissal focused on irrelevant details, DOJ argued, saying the “only question for the Court to resolve at the motion-to-dismiss stage is whether the District has sufficiently alleged the agreements are unreasonable, and the Court’s analysis should properly focus on this inquiry.”