OneService, El Segundo, Calif., which provides specialized all-risk insurance for the transportation of valuables, including jewelry, filed suit Monday, Oct. 20, in United States District Court, Central District of California, seeking a preliminary injunction and damages against Federal Express (FedEx) for violations of federal antitrust laws, California unfair competition laws, and interference with its business relations.

The company filed the lawsuit to prohibit FedEx from actions that it says would negatively affect the jewelry industry, including implementing significant price increases and restricting services.

OneService CEO Scott Eschelman said in a statement, “OneService takes its responsibility as the jewelry industry’s leading facilitator of express shipments seriously, and we initiated legal action against FedEx after concluding that it is the only way to maintain safe and efficient shipping services for our industry at competitive prices in the future.”

In its statement, OneService alleges that FedEx’s DVX unit is “trying to capture the entire [jewelry] industry by unfairly exerting the power of FedEx in the overnight shipping business to dictate changes in service agreements resulting in significantly higher costs and reduced service levels to the jewelry industry.”

JCK