ArvinMeritor Inc announced that a jury has ruled in favor of ZF Meritor LLC, a venture between ArvinMeritor and ZF Friedrichshafen AG, and Meritor Transmission Corporation, an ArvinMeritor company, in the companies’ antitrust lawsuit against Eaton Corporation. The jury found that Eaton engaged in exclusionary and anticompetitive conduct in the sale and marketing for heavy-duty truck transmissions. The case was tried in US District Court for the District of Delaware.
“We are elated that the jury recognized Eaton’s wrongful conduct in violation of antitrust laws that harmed competition in the markets for heavy-duty truck transmissions, forced us to exit the NAFTA line-haul transmission business, and led to the demise of our joint venture with ZF Industries,” said Chip McClure, ArvinMeritor chairman, chief executive officer, and president.
“In bringing this lawsuit forward, we sought to protect our loyal customers who have relied on our superior products and services. We knew our customers deserved the right to choose the transmissions they specify and that a significant number of those customers would have preferred ZF Meritor transmissions had they been available without restriction. Due to the exclusionary tactics employed by our competitor, we believe our products became difficult and ultimately impossible for our customers to choose as alternatives to Eaton’s offerings. We are grateful to the jury members for their time and for making the right decision to create fair competition and fair play in our marketplace.”
Today’s ruling completes the initial phase of the trial in which the jury was asked to determine whether or not Eaton was liable for the alleged violations. Given the jury’s finding that Eaton did engage in anticompetitive conduct, the parties will now proceed to the damages phase of the legal process through a separate trial.