Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Jan. 4 - The Hershey Co. and other candy-makers have been sued in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by suppliers and consumers alleging a price-fixing scheme.
The three lawsuits were filed in federal courts last month - two in Harrisburg and one in Newark, N.J. - citing recent news reports that authorities in Canada and the U.S. are looking into chocolate industry pricing practices. All three complaints seek class-action status.
The filing of such complaints is not unusual even though no charges have been filed, said James McCarthy, an attorney for Michael McNamara, a Michigan consumer who is a plaintiff in one of the Pennsylvania lawsuits.
"It's not premature, in our opinion," McCarthy said Friday.
The other Pennsylvania lawsuit was filed by Katherine Woodman of York County, Maine, who purchased chocolate products directly for resale to consumers. The New Jersey lawsuit was filed by CNS Confectionery LLC of Bayonne, N.J., and Winn Corp.
The lawsuits name Hershey and Mars Inc., the leading chocolate companies in the U.S., along with other companies such as Nestle USA. Company officials declined to comment on the lawsuits.
Court documents released in December allege that the Canadian divisions of Nestle, Mars, Hershey and others teamed up in a price-fixing scheme in the multibillion-dollar Canadian chocolate bar market. The accusations were in two search warrants granted last month to Canada's federal Competition Bureau as part of an investigation into the chocolate industry.
Officials with Nestle, Mars and Hershey have said their companies will cooperate with a separate Justice Department inquiry into the pricing practices of several chocolate makers in the U.S.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined comment Friday.