It is not often that one sees a pro se antitrust class action — the notion seems implausible to the point of impossible — but at first glance one appears to be pending against Toys “R” Us in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
In connection with its defense in this antitrust class action lawsuit in Pennsylvania, Toys “R” Us issued a subpoena on Target asking Target to set out its profit margins on strollers, car seats, baby carriers, and electronic breast pumps over the past seven years. Target brought a motion to quash the subpoena on Friday, and plaintiffs are listed as pro se. The subpoena seeks documents and testimony on Target profit margins on particular products for a seven-year period.
Plaintiffs are hardly pro se in the antitrust class action. Indeed, they are represented by a phalanx of attorneys but perhaps not yet Minnesota counsel for purposes of dealing with this motion and therefore listed as “pro se” on the court’s electronic docket.
Target apparently had ten days to respond to the subpoena but its primary attack against the subpoena in its brief in support of its motion to quash was not the short time period but a direct competitor seeking discovery of this commercially valuable confidential information.