Jan. 4 Case Management Conference Set in Calif. Amazon Antitrust Suit

California’s antitrust complaint against Amazon was granted “complex designation” status and assigned to Judge Ethan Schulman, said an order Wednesday (docket CGC-22-601826) in California Superior Court in San Francisco. Schulman scheduled a case management conference Jan. 4 at 10 a.m. PST, and ordered the parties to file a joint case management statement at least five court days in advance. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in a heavily redacted Sept. 15 complaint, alleged Amazon "makes consumers think they are getting the lowest prices possible, when in fact, they cannot get the low prices that would prevail in a freely competitive market" (see 2210130034). He alleged Amazon "coerced and induced its third-party sellers and wholesale suppliers to enter into anticompetitive agreements on price."