Lunch Breaks Debited in Credit Card Case
From Associated Press
A timekeeper will keep attorneys on a short leash, with lunch breaks of precisely 45 minutes. U.S. District Judge John Gleeson set the strict guidelines to try to streamline a complex antitrust case in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The case pits Foster City, Calif.-based Visa USA and New York-based MasterCard against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Sears Roebuck & Co. and other retailers in a dispute over debit cards. Jury selection is scheduled to start today.
The retailers seek billions of dollars in damages in a class- action suit brought in 1996. The retailers allege that the defendants schemed to extend their dominance to debit cards by mandating an “honor all cards” policy, meaning any merchant accepting their credit cards must accept their debit cards.
