Court: Some rail rate talks allowed in price-fixing suits

By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that details of some of the conversations between the nation’s four largest railroads about their rates can now be included in lawsuits challenging billions of dollars they charged their customers. But the mixed ruling will also exclude some documents. The ruling will likely set up more arguments as Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads defend themselves against dozens of lawsuits accusing them of conspiring to inflate their rates between 2003 and 2007 with coordinated fuel surcharges. The key to determining what evidence is admissible will be whether the conversations relate to shipments that cross multiple railroads or not because railroads are allowed to discuss those shared shipments.