Civil Penalty Actions
Competition Mission
Competition Mission (Summary)
| Title | Number | Action Date | Type of Matter | Product/Service |
| Automatic Data Processing, Inc. | 951 0113 | 03/27/96 | Premerger Notification | Salvage Yard Information Systems |
| Federated Department Stores, Inc. | 931 0140 | 12/09/95 | Distributional Arrangements | Retail Department Stores |
| Foodmaker, Inc. | 941 0056 | 08/26/96 | Premerger Notification | Restaurants |
| Sara Lee Corporation | 921 0023 | 02/09/96 | Premerger Notification | Shoe Care Products |
| Titan Wheel International, Inc. | 941 0110 | 05/10/96 | Premerger Notification | Tires and Inner Tubes |
Competition Mission (Detail)
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.; AutoInfo Inc.; Orion Management Corp.
Automatic Data Processing agreed to pay $2.97 million in civil penalties to settle charges that it failed to include key competitive documents in a premerger filing for its acquisition of AutoInfo. The civil penalty settlement is the third largest ever obtained for a violation of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and is also the largest ever obtained under charges for failure to submit documents required by item 4(c) of the Notification and Report Form. The complaint and consent judgment were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Commission attorneys acting as special attorneys to the U.S. Attorney General.
Federated Department Stores, Inc.
One of the country's largest operators of department stores agreed to settle charges that it violated a 1979 consent order prohibiting it from interfering with the entry of a competitor into a shopping mall in which it operates a store. The complaint charged that Federated threatened to block another tenant from buying a department store in a Florence, Kentucky, mall where Federated operates a Lazarus department store. Under terms of the consent judgment, Federated agreed to pay $250,000 in civil penalties.
Foodmaker, Inc.; Chi-Chi's, Inc.
Foodmaker paid $1.45 million in civil penalties to settle charges that its Chi-Chi's subsidiary failed to comply with the notification and filing requirements under the HSR Act before it acquired Consul, Inc., operator of 26 Chi-Chi's franchises. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Commission attorneys acting as special attorneys to the U.S. Attorney General.
Sara Lee Corporation
Sara Lee agreed to pay $3.1 million, the largest civil penalty ever imposed under the HSR Act, for allegedly failing to notify federal antitrust agencies before acquiring the shoe care products assets of Reckitt & Colman plc. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Commission attorneys serving as special attorneys to the U.S. Attorney General. A consent order, finalized in 1994, required divestiture of the Griffin and Esquire brands of shoe polish in settlement of charges that the acquisition could create a monopoly in the U.S. market for shoe care products.
Titan Wheel International, Inc.; Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corporation
Titan Wheel International agreed to pay a $130,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it acquired a Pirelli Armstrong plant in Des Moines before notifying the two federal antitrust agencies and observing the statutory waiting period. According to the complaint, the parties transferred control of the Pirelli Armstrong assets three days before filing notification under the HSR Act with the Commission and the Department of Justice. The complaint and proposed consent judgment were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Commission attorneys acting as special attorneys to the U.S. Attorney General.