The Franco-Italian company EssilorLuxottica, owner of eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley, has been sued. Photo: Agefotostock / Legion Media.
Franco-Italian company EssilorLuxottica, owner of eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley, has been sued for allegedly colluding with its competitors to increase the price of its products by up to 1,000%, according to Bloomberg.
The antitrust lawsuit was filed by a consumer group in federal court in San Francisco this Friday.
According to the complaint, EssilorLuxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company, is the “initiator and key player” of a price-fixing scheme in the US market and has entered into illegal deals with Frames for America Inc. and For Eyes Optical Co., among others.
It also details how eye care company EyeMed, a subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica, entered into anti-competitive agreements with thousands of eye care providers to “encourage millions of consumers to buy the conglomerate’s overpriced eyewear.”
The plaintiffs point out that the illegal collusion was obscured by an agreement between the companies to prevent disclosure of the terms.
Twenty other manufacturers of luxury eyewear were also sued.
(With information from RT in Spanish)