A class-action lawsuit, which presented price-fixing claims against major Las Vegas hotels, has been dismissed by a federal judge. Thus, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, and Treasure Island scored a big victory in prolonged legal proceedings, which started over a year ago.
Lawsuit Alleges Price-Fixing Conspiracy Among Major Las Vegas Hotel Operators
The lawsuit was filed back in January 2023 by Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro on behalf of two tourists who sought repayment for alleged overcharges. The lawsuit accused major Las Vegas hotel operators such as Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, and Treasure Island that they have made surreptitious agreements aiming to inflate room prices with the help of data-sharing software called Rainmaker.
Allegedly the operators used the software developed by Florida-based Cyndyn Group to share sensitive pricing information among themselves, which then resulted in artificially high room rates.
The plaintiffs challenged the major Las Vegas operators under the Sherman Antitrust Act, which aims to prevent anti-competitive practices that could harm consumers.
In the recent hearing in connection with the case, US District Chief Judge Miranda Du dismissed the lawsuit, reported The Las Vegas Review-Journal. She stated that plaintiffs did not prove that there was in fact a clear price fixing agreement among the hotel operators.
Du’s decision followed another dismissal of the lawsuit that happened in October 2023. The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint but still, the judge found their allegations insufficient to establish a plausible case of price-fixing.
Lawsuit Claims Bias in Vegas Hotel Pricing Software, Judge’s Ruling Highlights Gray Area
According to the claims in the lawsuit, using Rainmaker’s software affected the normal market competition as it provided biased pricing recommendations, which the plaintiffs claimed were in favor of the hotel operators. As a result, the room prices had higher rates for consumers.
However, Judge Du pointed out that hotel operators do not have to align their prices with the suggestions from Rainmaker, which weakened the plaintiffs’ argument.
Hotel operators’ representatives hailed the decision but also stressed that they are committed to fair business practices.
At the same time, the legal representatives of the plaintiffs said that they are currently considering their options and may potentially file for an appeal.
Last year in April, the Las Vegas hotel-casino operators also sought to dismiss the class-action lawsuit, refuting the plaintiff’s claims and dubbing them a conspiracy.
Back then, Amanda Belarmino, an assistant professor at the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at UNLV, also opposed the allegations as unfounded. She attributed the high room rates to implications following the removal of pandemic restrictions.