EssilorLuxottica, the owner of eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley and the largest eyewear company in the world, is accused of driving up the prices of its eyewear by up to 1,000 percent.
That’s according to a lawsuit filed by consumers in federal court in San Francisco.
According to the lawsuit, EssilorLuxottica is the “instigator and primary executor” of the price-fixing in the US market. It is further alleged that a subsidiary of the company, EyeMed, has entered into agreements with eye care providers.
Those would limit competition, encouraging “millions of consumers” to buy the “overpriced glasses of the conglomerate”.
The consumers also name about twenty other manufacturers of branded glasses in their complaints. The companies would have mutually agreed not to disclose the terms of their agreements, they further state. The case must become a collective lawsuit: others who feel duped by the companies can join.