Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Federal Trade Commission
United States Supreme Court
440 U.S. 69 (1979)
Relevant factsFree
A&P (defendant) leveraged a lower bid from Bowman Dairy to pressure Borden into an even lower second bid for supplying A&P's private-label milk, letting Borden believe it was merely matching Bowman's bid when in fact Borden's second bid was lower than Bowman's; the FTC (plaintiff) sued A&P under Robinson-Patman Act Section 2(f) for knowingly inducing Borden's unlawful price discrimination, and the court of appeals rejected A&P's meeting-competition defense because A&P knew Borden's bid actually beat Bowman's.
IssueFree
Whether, under the Robinson-Patman Act, a buyer can be held liable for inducing a seller's price discrimination if the seller has a valid affirmative defense to its own liability.
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