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Scranton Label Inc. receives settlement

By Don McGlynn dmcglynn@theabingtonjournal.com
Reporter/Photographer

MOOSIC- Scranton Label Inc. will be among the companies to benefit from a $45 million anti-trust settlement.

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Todd O’Malley, founding senior partner of O’Malley & Langan, at a press conference Thursday, Oct. 22 in Moosic. O’Malley & Langan represented Scranton Label Inc. in a class action lawsuit resulting in $45 million anti-trust settlement.

Abington Journal/Don McGlynn

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The law office of O’Malley & Langan held a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Trattoria Bella in Moosic to announce the $45 million federal anti-trust lawsuit settlement awarded to 11 companies who filed a class action law suit against the manufacturers of self-adhesive label stock, including the Clarks Summit company, Scranton Label, Inc. O’Malley & Langan acted as their local counsel.

“We’re pleased with the result of this case,” said Todd O’Malley, founding senior partner of O’Malley & Langan.

The lawsuit was originally filed alleging that the five defendant companies, Avery-Dennison Corporation, Raflatac, Inc., UPM-Kymmene Corporation, Bemis Company, Inc. and Morgan Adhesives Company, conspired to limit competition among themselves in the United States market for pressure-sensitive labelstock by fixing, maintaining or stabilizing prices and allocating the market for self -adhesive label stock.

The lawsuit alleged unfair competition, price discrimination, unfair pricing and unitary pricing, as well as a violation of trade practices and civil conspiracy laws.

“What happens when prices are able to be able to be fixed…when competition can be squeezed out, when (you can) create monopolies, then prices go up and everyone pays more,” said O’Malley

“In this case people who (needed) the adhesive labels all overpaid probably less than a penny for each label, but when you multiply that by millions of labels it comes out to a substantial amount of money across the board.”

The order approving the settlement was signed on Thursday, Sept.17 by Judge Thomas Vanaskie.