NEW YORK—The number of class action lawsuits against Transitions Optical, Essilor of America (EOA) and Essilor Laboratories of America (ELOA) is growing as more optical retailers are filing claims against the three companies for alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws.

According to court documents, two more retailers—identified in the documents as “direct purchasers”—have filed separate class action suits against the three optical companies in the past week, bringing the total number of suits to six. The most recent is Sickbert Family Eye Care of Rushville, Ind., which filed suit in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Texas on April 30. On April 29, First Image Optical, a retailer located in Mt. Dora, Fla., filed suit in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Tampa division.

As previously reported in VMail, two other retailers, Arthur L. Cartier Optics, of Stratford, Conn. and See-Mor Optical of Hewlett, Inc., of Hewlett, N.Y. have also filed suit recently against Transitions Optical, EOA and ELOA. Both First Image Optical and See-Mor Optical also named Essilor International as a defendant in their suits.

In addition, Nouveau Optical, a Washington state-based wholesale laboratory, filed suit against the three companies on March 30 in U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington.

In a related development, Axhi Sabani, a resident of Madison, Wis. filed an indirect purchaser antitrust class action suit in a Wisconsin circuit court against the three companies on March 16.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is considering a request from See-Mor to consolidate some of the lawsuits.

The six suits filed to date claim that Transitions Optical, EOA and ELOA engaged in “unlawful, anticompetitive conduct that had the effect of improperly maintaining Transitions’ monopoly in the photochromic lens market,” according to court documents.

They directly follow a settlement concluded last month between the Federal Trade Commission and Transitions Optical that bars the company from using allegedly anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly and increase prices on photochromic lenses.

Transitions Optical, the leading producer of photochromic lenses, is jointly owned by PPG Industry, which holds a 51 percent stake, and Essilor, which holds the remaining 49 percent.

Responding to a query from VMail about the class action suits, a Transitions Optical spokesperson said, “We remain confident that we have always acted in a manner that was in the best interest of our customers and the industry.”

An Essilor spokesperson said, “Essilor has always competed fairly for its business. We believe the allegations in the litigation are wholly without merit.”