After a $7.5 billion antitrust settlement between merchants and Visa and MasterCard over alleged fee fixing blew up last year, some big businesses have chosen to file similar claims in state court, including Texas-based Luby’s Fuddruckers, who recently sued the credit card companies in a Harris County district court.
The restaurant chain’s lawsuit alleges that both the credit card companies and numerous major banking defendants violated the antitrust provisions of the Texas Enterprise Act by forcing them to pay exorbitant “interchange” fees for accepting Visa and MasterCard since 2004.
