.S. District Judge John Gleeson declined Visa USA and MasterCard International's request to throw out the antitrust class-action lawsuit filed by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and four million other retailers. The judge also denied MasterCard's March 7 request for a separate trial. The judge ruled the trial will go on in Brooklyn as scheduled, with jury selection to begin April 21, 2003.

The judge's decision to move forward with the trial rejects Visa and MasterCard's arguments that the retailers failed to provide sufficient evidence showing the associations were involved in a conspiracy to monopolize the debit-card market.

In a 16-page decision that partially grants a summary judgment that the retailers (plaintiffs) sought in January ("Merchants Request Summary Judgment," The Green Sheet, January 27, 2003, issue 03:01:02), Gleeson said he believed there is evidence, both "direct and circumstantial," from which a jury could find a conspiracy, The Associated Press reported.

Gleeson agreed with the retailers' argument that they were forced to abide by the "honor all cards" policy but decreed that it is up to a jury to decide if this policy is in violation of antitrust laws.