In a case of first impression, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, in the matter of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority, dismissed the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s antitrust action against the municipal authority that owns and operates the Harrisburg International Airport.  Timothy J. Nieman was lead counsel for the Rhoads & Sinon litigation team –  which also included Airport Authority Solicitor Jack F. Hurley, David C. Sirolly, David J. Staudt and Cory Iannacone – that successfully defended the Airport Authority in this matter. 

In its Complaint, the Attorney General claimed that the Airport Authority’s condemnation of a privately owned parking lot violated the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts because it allegedly eliminated the Airport Authority’s sole competitor for airport parking services.  In response, Rhoads & Sinon successfully argued that the Airport Authority’s action was protected by the state action doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States in Parker v. Brown. 

The District Court determined that even if the Airport Authority’s condemnation was anticompetitive, it was exercised pursuant to a clearly expressed state policy.  As a result, the Airport Authority’s action was immune from a federal antitrust challenge.  The District Court further noted that any attempt by the Attorney General to amend the Complaint would be “futile.”

This decision appears to be the first case in the United States where a state attorney general brought an antitrust claim against another governmental entity exercising its power of eminent domain. 

For more information concerning this case, please contact Mr. Nieman at (717) 231-6614.