A New York law firm has issued a press release with the obvious intent of launching a class action against several manufacturers using Embraco compressors made in Brazil.
The full press release is as follows:
Levin Law, a class action law firm, has launched a nationwide investigation on behalf of consumers and businesses who purchased refrigerators, ice makers, water fountains, air conditioners, compressors and other refrigeration appliances from Whirlpool Corp. and Embraco and several competitors, including Tecumseh Products and Panasonic. These companies face a global antitrust investigation into possible price fixing of compressors used in refrigeration appliances.
Direct purchasers of Whirlpool, Embraco, Tecumseh, or Panasonic refrigerators, air conditioning units, compressors or other appliances that contain compressors manufactured by one of these companies, may be entitled to compensation. Contact Levin Law at www.law29.com or toll free 1.888.93.law29 (or 1.888.935.2929) for more information.
Empresa Brasileira de Compressores SA (Embraco), Whirlpool’s compressor division in Brazil, is being probed by the country’s antitrust authority, Brazil’s Justice Ministry announced. The investigation is part of a coordinated cartel probe with authorities in the United States and Europe. Under EU law, companies can be fined as much as 10% of annual sales for breaking antitrust rules. The commission has made fighting cartels a priority in recent years, imposing record penalties on companies. In Brazil, companies may be fined as much as 30% of gross revenue and managers may be imprisoned for as long as five years.
The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust authority, raided the offices of Danfoss A/S, a Nordborg, Denmark-based maker of refrigeration parts, in Denmark, Germany and Italy, Ole Daugbjerg, a spokesman for closely held Danfoss reported. In a related action, Tecumseh Products Co. said it received subpoenas from antitrust authorities in the United States and Brazil regarding an investigation into possible price-fixing in the compressor market.
Direct purchasers of Whirlpool, Embraco, Tecumseh, or Panasonic refrigerators, air conditioning units, compressors or other appliances that contain compressors manufactured by one of these companies, may be entitled to compensation.
