Kelco Disposal, Inc. and Joseph Kelley, Plaintiffs-Appellees, Cross-Appellants, v. Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. and Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc., Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees, 845 F.2d 404

Summary

Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that defendants attempted to monopolize the roll-off waste disposal market in a certain area of Vermont, in violation of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 2, and that defendants' conduct constituted interference with contractual relations under Vermont tort law. A jury found defendants liable on both counts, and imposed punitive damages. On appeal, defendants argued that the jury's liability verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence. The court held that the claim of attempt to monopolize had three elements, which consisted of anticompetitive or exclusionary conduct, specific intent to monopolize, and dangerous probability that the attempt would succeed. The court held that the jury had sufficient evidence to conclude defendants' anticompetitive conduct consisted of predatory pricing, and the jury could have inferred specific intent to monopolize from this fact. The court also held that a jury could have concluded there was a dangerous ...