Washington Consumers to Get $4.1 Million in LCD Price-Fixing Case

Checks will be in the mail next week for consumers negatively affected by what the state Attorney General’s Office is calling an “elaborate price-fixing conspiracy by LCD manufacturers,” according to Attorney General Bob Ferguson. 

A total of $4.1 million will be dispersed to 24,632 consumers and businesses in all of Washington’s 39 counties. 

The financial recovery is one of the largest in the history of the Attorney General’s Antitrust Division, according to the agency. 

“The conspiracy affected millions of products Washingtonians purchased over a period of eight years,” Ferguson said. “This step brings closure and a measure of justice to consumers who were harmed by this scheme. When powerful interests don’t play by the rules, my office will be there to hold them accountable.”

According to a press release from the AG’s office, consumers in Washington and throughout the world were overcharged for every product they bought with an LCD or liquid crystal display, which could have accounted for as much as 20 percent of the overall price. 

The original complaint in the case, filed in 2010, alleged that “LCD manufacturers participated in cartel meetings in which they exchanged price information and agreed to fix prices and manipulate the supply of LCD panels to artificially increase prices,” according to the press release. 

The Attorney General’s Office pursued an individual case rather than a multistate case “to get a better deal for Washington consumers,” according to a press release from the office. 

On average, each consumer will receive about $203 and varies based on the number and type of items they claimed. 

Claimants will receive $72.19 per LCD television, up to 10,000 units, $23.95 per flat-screen monitor, up to 10,000 units, $48.03 per notebook computer, up to 10,000 units, $6 per color-screen iPod and $6 per color screen cell phone. 

Checks for more than one million claimed items will be mailed, according to the press release.