Background
Twombly and Marcus brought a class-action lawsuit alleging that Bell Atlantic and a number of other large telephone companies had engaged in anti-competitive behavior in violation of ยง 1 of the Sherman Act. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that these large telephone companies had acted in order to disadvantage smaller telephone companies and charge consumers more by, for example, refraining from entering markets where another large company was dominant (thereby preventing a price war).
Their complaint was dismissed by Judge Gerard E. Lynch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, as failing to allege sufficient facts to state a claim for a violation of the Sherman Act. This decision was reversed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in 2006.
Read more about this topic: Bell Atlantic Corp. V. Twombly
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