Apple continued its losing streak against the federal
government when an appeals court rejected the company’s bid to have Michael
Bromwich disqualified as the compliance monitor in its antitrust case.
While the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New
York noted concerns about some of the allegations against Bromwich, it ruled that District Judge Denise Cote had the right to appoint him to the job. Cote
selected Bromwich after deciding that Apple conspired with five major
publishers to fix the prices of e-books in 2013.
Apple is appealing the entire decision, but went after
Bromwich for being too aggressive in demanding interviews with executives and
for charging fees of $1,100 per hour. Bromwich countered that Apple refused to
provide him access and adopted an adversarial tone when dealing with him.
“The company largely sat on its hands, allowing issues
with the monitor to fester and the relationship to deteriorate,” Judge Jesse
Furman wrote about Apple.
