Paramount Joins States' Request to Consolidate Antitrust Cases Over Warner Bros. Merger
Paramount agreed to link the federal antitrust suit brought by 12 states to a prior lawsuit by Paramount+ subscribers, likely consolidating both cases before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin.
Paramount has consented to a request from a coalition of 12 states to attach their federal antitrust action against the $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger to an earlier lawsuit filed by Paramount+ subscribers. The consolidation would place both matters before U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin, a Biden appointee who is already presiding over the subscriber case in Oakland.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the states’ filing in the Northern District of California, said the states are also seeking a temporary restraining order and an injunction to block the merger’s completion, though a hearing on that motion has not been scheduled. Bonta told The Town podcast, “We like that judge. The fact that the judge is already up to speed, is thinking about this, thinking about its impacts — we like that.”
Paramount filed a motion on Tuesday supporting the states’ request; a company spokesperson declined to comment. Martinez-Olguin is set to hear arguments on Thursday regarding the subscribers’ request for a preliminary injunction and Paramount’s motion to dismiss the subscriber suit.
Earlier, the states’ case had been randomly assigned to Judge P. Casey Pitts, another Biden appointee based in San Jose, who is also overseeing a separate antitrust challenge involving a $14 billion Hewlett Packard Enterprises-Juniper Networks merger. Pitts previously represented the Writers Guild of America in a lawsuit against talent agencies over packaging fees, where the guild’s counsel, Jeffrey Kessler, now leads Paramount’s defense in the Warner Bros. merger case.