Todd v. Exxon Corporation
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
275 F.3d 191 (2001)
Exxon and 13 other oil companies (defendants), together controlling 80-90% of the oil and petrochemical industry, exchanged detailed salary information for managerial, professional, and technical (MPT) employees through surveys compiled and analyzed by a third-party consultant, Towers Perrin, then used that confidential data to set MPT salaries; Roberta Todd sued on behalf of a class of Exxon employees (plaintiffs), alleging this information exchange violated Sherman Act Section 1 by artificially depressing MPT salaries. The district court dismissed for failing to allege necessary elements, and the plaintiffs appealed.
Whether the exchange of salary data among firms in an oligopolistic market violates Section 1 of the Sherman Act if it facilitates tacit coordination.