Dow Chemical fails to overturn price fixing case

A federal appeals court in Denver has upheld a $1.1 billion antitrust ruling against Dow Chemical that found the chemical giant conspired with competitors to fix prices in the polyurethane market.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Monday said enough evidence supported the class action award. The court also said new U.S. Supreme Court limits on class actions did not require Dow customers to sue individually, even if some could have avoided price hikes by negotiating or using rival products.

Dow said it “extremely disappointed” in the decision and will appeal, including to the Supreme Court if necessary, the Midland, Mich.-based company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Polyurethanes are chemical products used to make consumer and industrial goods such as car seating, footwear, insulation and mattress foam.

Several companies including Dow had been accused in a 2005 lawsuit of conspiring to fix prices of urethane chemicals in the preceding six years.

Dow was the only defendant not to settle, only to be found liable in February 2013 by a federal jury in Kansas City, Kan., for $400 million of damages.

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Dow Chemical fails to overturn price fixing case."