Case Description
California alleged that the defendants set up an illegal cartel to control the prices of street sweeping brushes and reconditioning services for those brushes by allocating customers and by engaging in bid-rigging activities. Although the defendants deny liability, they have agreed to wide-ranging injunctive relief and civil penalties and fees amounting to $83,000 in total. The injunctive relief bars the defendants from engaging in territorial allocation schemes, bid-rigging activities, soliciting others to engage in such schemes or activities, and exclusive distributorship arrangements (which are otherwise subject to rule of reason analysis, but which the State believed were being used here to shield illegal acts) among themselves. The settlement also requires the defendants to notify California of any merger activities for the next five years. See also California v. Acme rotary Broom, California v. American Rotary Broom)
