NEW YORK – In a victory for merchants and consumers, yesterday Judge Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York denied American Express’ motion for a stay pending appeal of the court-ordered permanent injunction in the case: United States of America et al. v. American Express Co. and American Express Travel Related Service Company, Inc.

The injunction, which would prohibit Amex from enforcing certain Non-Discrimination Provisions (“NDPs”) contained in the card company’s contracts with merchants, is the culmination of a case that concluded in the fall of 2014. The case against American Express, which was brought by the U.S. Justice Department (“DOJ”) and 17 state attorneys general, centered around whether Amex engaged in anticompetitive behavior when it prevented merchants from offering discounts and other incentives to customers for using lower-cost credit cards. In February 2015, Judge Garaufis ruled against Amex, concluding that American Express’ rules preventing discounts violated the antitrust laws.

In his memorandum and order, Judge Garaufis rejected Amex’s argument that it would suffer “irreparable harm” absent a stay pending appeal, noting that the company’s arguments are “outweighed by the significant, continued harm to merchants and to other members of the public that would be caused by Amex’s unabated enforcement of the NDPs during the pendency of its anticipated appeal, a period that could last several years.” The judge did, however, grant Amex a temporary 30-day stay of the permanent injunction, which will allow Amex to seek a stay pending appeal from the Second Circuit. Amex is expected to appeal to the Second Circuit.