In new court documents, the
"Metro has suffered, and continues to suffer, significant and unjustifiable damage to its reputation, having been falsely painted as involved in a criminal price-fixing conspiracy when it was not," the retailer said.
Metro submitted a statement of defence and cross-claim to the
The class-action case has been brought against a group of companies that includes Loblaw and the Weston companies, Metro, Walmart Canada, Giant Tiger and Sobeys and its owner
Loblaw spokeswoman
Sobeys has filed its own statement of defence and crossclaim in the class action, spokeswoman
In October, the company said it had been falsely implicated in a conspiracy.
Sobeys' allegations are also untrue, Thomas said.
Walmart Canada has served its defence and denies conspiring to fix the price of bread or violating the Competition Act, spokeswoman
Giant Tiger spokeswoman
The class action also names bakery supplier
The bakery giant admitted to arranging with competitor
Canada Bread filed its statement of defence in the class action in October. It denied participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to fix the price of bread, and denied profiting from the alleged conspiracy or from the price increases it admitted to in June.
The supplier said any anti-competitive behavior it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner
In the statement of defence and crossclaim, Metro said that during the class period, Canada Bread and the Weston defendants had an “effective duopoly” as suppliers of wholesale packaged bread. The two periodically increased wholesale prices to Metro’s
The Weston companies knew they would face severe public backlash, reputational damage and potential boycotts if customers saw Loblaw as the sole retailer involved in a price-fixing conspiracy, Metro said in the court documents.
Metro claims it has suffered reputational damage because of its implication in the scandal and is claiming damages against the Weston defendants, saying they “acted in a high-handed and callous manner.”
At least
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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