WASHINGTON—FTC and Whole Foods Market are back in the litigation ring, as the natural products supermarket filed suit in U.S. District Court here on Dec. 8, alleging the federal agency prejudged the company’s merger with rival Wild Oats Markets as anticompetitive before reviewing the facts. The merger went through in 2007 after FTC lost its fight for a preliminary injunction, but more recent court rulings have said FTC may have a point.
In its filing, Whole Foods cited Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts, who called for the sentence first and then the evidence. The retailer is charging FTC with rushing to trial in violation of due process, and of prejudgment in the case, which would make future deliberations meaningless as “it has already closed its mind,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods’ CEO. Whole Foods’ filing asks the court to issue an injunction, barring FTC from holding the administrative trial, and from reviewing the case itself.
