On February 1, 2023, FeganScott filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of American farmers against Syngenta, BASF and Corteva, alleging that the major pesticide manufacturers operated an unlawful anticompetitive scheme that forced farmers to pay inflated prices for pesticides and related products.
The suit details how Syngenta, BASF and Corteva created a scheme to pay distributors to limit their purchasing of generic pesticide products from competing manufacturers, funneling payments through what the suit claims are sham loyalty programs.
On September 29, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission, with support of several state attorneys general, filed a complaint claiming that Syngenta and Corteva’s loyalty programs have unfairly suppressed generic competition and allowed the manufacturers to maintain market dominance after their patent protection of their crop protection products expired. The complaint aims to shut down the programs and restore competition to the impacted markets.
Through its suit, FeganScott seeks to hold the manufacturers that operated the unlawful scheme and the distributors who participated in it responsible by recouping monetary damages incurred by the plaintiffs for the overpayment of Syngenta, BASF and Corteva products.