Essential facilities doctrine

Essential facilities doctrine establishes liability under Sherman Act Section Two when one company denies a competitor access to the company's facility.

The classic statement of the doctrine is in a Seventh Circuit decision affirming a jury verdict for MCI against AT&T, after nearly a decade of litigation (while reversing on the damage award):

The case law sets forth four elements necessary to establish liability under the essential facilities doctrine: (1) control of the essential facility by a monopolist; (2) a competitor's inability practically or reasonably to duplicate the essential facility; (3) the denial of the use of the facility to a competitor; and (4) the feasibility of providing the facility. Hecht v. Pro-Football, Inc., 187 U.S. App. D.C. 73, 570 F.2d 982, 992-93 (D.C. Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 956, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1121, 98 S. Ct. 3069 (1978). See Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States, 410 U.S. 366, 35 L. Ed. 2d 359, 93 S. Ct. 1022 (1973); United States v. Terminal Railroad Association, 224 U.S. at 405, 409; City of Mishawaka v. American Electric Power Co., 465 F. Supp. 1320, 1336 (N.D. Ind. 1979), aff'd in relevant part, 616 F.2d 976 (7th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1096, 101 S. Ct. 892, 66 L. Ed. 2d 824 (1981).

MCI Communications Corp. v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 708 F.2d 1081, 1132-1133 (7th Cir. Ill. 1983).

See also

• essential facility