Federated Department Stores v. Moitie

Several plaintiffs, including Moitie (defendant on appeal, plaintiff below), sued Federated Department Stores (plaintiff on appeal) and other retailers for antitrust violations in cases consolidated with a related class action. After the district court dismissed the claims for failure to allege injury to business or property, some plaintiffs appealed while Moitie and another plaintiff instead refiled essentially the same claims in state court, recasting them as state-law claims. The defendants removed the new suits to federal court and argued they were barred by res judicata because of the earlier dismissal. Meanwhile, the Ninth Circuit reversed the original dismissal in the appealed cases on the merits.