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Donetta W. Ambrose, the Senior U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania, has denied a request that would have compelled window manufacturer Jeld-Wen Inc. to reveal the terms of a confidential settlement agreement between the window manufacturing firm and one of the four North American glass manufacturers it was suing for collusion and price-fixing.
The legal wrangling is the latest development in an ongoing dispute that stems from an anti-trust suit Jeld-Wen filed against four North American glass manufacturers in March 2011, alleging their collusion in attempt to fix prices of flat glass sold in the U.S. from January 1, 2002 to Dec. 31, 2006. The defendants in the suit first filed included AGC Flat Glass North America (AGC), Guardian Industries, Pilkington North America and PPG Industries.
PPG later sued Jeld-Wen in May 2012, claiming breach of license, only for the case to be dismissed with prejudice shortly afterwards.
AGC had contended that the remaining defendants in the case had an inherent right to know the terms of Jeld-Wen’s recent settlement with PPG Industries. AGC officials claimed there might be potential bias by PPG witnesses who might testify when the case goes to trial in Oregon.
Ambrose, however, didn’t find their argument compelling, writing that “broad assertions, without more, are insufficient to obtain discovery of a confidential release.”
