Manuel John Dominguez (“John”) has spent more than 25 years as a litigator dedicated to competition law, representing those who are harmed by supra-competitive pricing or stymied by constraints and prices imposed by companies that unlawfully scheme to quell competition and stifle innovation. His clients include consumers, hospitals, physicians, manufacturers, pension funds, and farmers.
John’s vast litigation experience and knowledge of antitrust law has earned high praise from his clients, peers, and national publications. He is also recognized for investigating new matters and bringing cases that push the competition law envelope – eschewing “copycat” cases for matters that break new ground.
Currently, John serves as lead counsel in In re Da Vinci Surgical Robot Antitrust Litigation (on behalf of purchasers of robotic surgery devices), Mohawk Gaming Enterprises LLC v. Scientific Games, et al. (on behalf of purchasers of automatic card shufflers), and In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation Counsel (representing certain gas retailers processing purchases via Visa and MasterCard). In a series of cases brought on behalf of purchasers of certain auto parts – including bearings, mini-bearings, valve timing control devices, alternators, and ignition coils – John formed part of the leadership team that recovered over $80 million for direct purchasers in the class. In In re Liquid Aluminum Sulfate Antitrust Litigation, he served on the Plaintiffs Steering Committee that returned more than $33 million to direct purchasers. John was also involved in antitrust litigation related to Marine Hoses and TFT LCD (flat panel) which recovered $32 million and $400 million respectively.
John’s litigation experience extends beyond antitrust actions. He is currently counsel for individuals suing Church of Scientology International and its leader, David Miscavige, for engaging in human trafficking, forced labor, and peonage. He has been involved in litigating securities class actions that resulted in $150 million in shareholder recoveries, including cases against Symbol Technologies and GreenSky. He also led consumer litigation on behalf of consumers whose search data was released by AOL that led to changes in the way personal information is used and maintained, and recovered millions of dollars from AOL.
- Chair, Antitrust, Franchise & Trade Regulation Committee, Business Law Section, Florida Bar
- Florida
- Florida State University College of Law, J.D., 1995
- Florida International University, B.A., 1991
Current Cases
All Wrapped Up Signs and Graphix LLC v. Visa Inc.
All Wrapped Up Signs and Graphix LLC v. Visa Inc. (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein filed a putative class action on behalf of plaintiff All Wrapped Up Signs and Graphix LLC alleging that Visa Inc. violated the Sherman Act and various state antitrust laws by (1) monopolizing and attempting to monopolize, and (2) reaching agreements not to compete in and in restraint of trade of, the market for debit transactions in the United States.
Baxter, et. al. v. Church of Scientology International
Baxter, et. al. v. Church of Scientology International (M.D. Fla.): Cohen Milstein represents plaintiffs in a human trafficking and forced labor lawsuit against David Miscavige; Church of Scientology International; Religious Technology Center, Inc.; International Association of Scientologists Administrations, Inc.; Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc.; and Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Organization, Inc., for violations of the United States Code Chapter 77 of Title 18 and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
In re Crop Protection Products Loyalty Program Antitrust Litigation
In re Crop Protection Products Loyalty Program Antitrust Litigation (M.D.N.C.): Cohen Milstein serves as Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel in this antirust multidistrict litigation against Syngenta Crop Protection and Corteva, Inc., two of the world’s largest pesticide manufactures. Plaintiffs allege these Defendants have illegally blocked competition through exclusive distributor “loyalty agreements,” thereby forcing farmers to pay supracompetitive prices while restricting their ability to benefit from new, innovative products.
In re Da Vinci Surgical Robot Antitrust Litigation
In re Da Vinci Surgical Robot Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein serves as Interim Co-Lead Counsel in this consolidated antitrust class action against Intuitive Surgical, Inc. Plaintiffs allege that Intuitive engages in an anticompetitive scheme under which it ties the purchase or lease of its must-have, market-dominating da Vinci surgical robot to the additional purchases of (i) robot maintenance and repair services and (ii) unnecessarily large numbers of the surgical instruments, known as EndoWrists, used to perform surgery with the robot—a violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation
In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation (E.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents gasoline retailers in numerous states in an antitrust class against Visa, Inc. and MasterCard, Inc. for orchestrating an anticompetitive scheme artificially inflating the “interchange fees” charged to process credit card transactions on their networks.
Mohawk Gaming Enterprises v. Scientific Games
Mohawk Gaming Enterprises v. Scientific Games, et al. (AAA/NY State Court): Cohen Milstein represents casinos that purchased/leased an automatic shuffler from Scientific Games, Bally Technologies, and Bally Gaming in a novel, certified class arbitration, alleging that the Respondents control virtually 100% of the relevant card shuffler market and maintain monopoly power through deceptive tactics such as fraudulently procuring patents and then assert those patents in sham lawsuits against competitors, thereby suppressing competition and deterring entry of new competitors, thereby allowing Respondents to set inflated prices.
Texas and Indiana Pension Funds v. InnovAge Holding Corp. et al.
Texas and Indiana Pension Funds v. InnovAge Holding Corp. et al. (D. CO.): Cohen Milstein is Lead Counsel in this securities class action that alleges InnovAge "substantially failed" to “provide to its participants medically necessary items and services" as required by government regulation. As a result, CMS and the State of Colorado suspended enrollment at InnovAge’s Colorado facilities. InnovAge's stock price declined 78% just nine months after its IPO, giving InnovAge the distinction of being one of 2021's five worst performing stocks.
Past Cases
In re GreenSky Securities Litigation
In re GreenSky Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein was Co-Lead Counsel in this securities class action involving fintech company GreenSky’s failure to disclose in its Initial Public Offering documents significant facts about the Company’s decision to pivot away from its most profitable line of business. This failure led to its stock plummeting and causing significant investor harm. In October 2021, the Court granted final approval of a $27.5 million settlement.
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2025)
- Global Competition Review, Who’s Who Legal: Competition USA (2021-2024)
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers (2021-2024)
- Florida Super Lawyers (2021-2022)
- Palm Beach Illustrated Top Lawyers (2018,2022)
- Florida Trend Legal Elite (2017-2018)
January 19, 2024
JP Morgan, Others Must Face Sr. Care Investors’ Claims
Claims that a group of securities underwriters were negligent in a senior health care company’s initial public offering have been kept alive by a Colorado federal judge. Separate claims that J.P. Morgan Securities lied and misled investors also survived a motion to dismiss Thursday, but U.S. District Judge William J. Martinez tossed similar claims against […]
In the News | Law360
June 6, 2023
Quinn Emanuel Among Law Firms Picked to Lead Pesticide Antitrust Litigation
Plaintiffs firms Cohen Milstein, Lowey and Korein Tillery also on leadership team Syngenta, Corteva deny allegations A U.S. judge has appointed a group of four plaintiffs’ firms to lead multidistrict litigation in North Carolina accusing the world’s largest seed and pesticide manufacturers of participating in a conspiracy with distributors to squelch competition. In his order […]
In the News | Reuters
February 15, 2023
Scientology Leader David Miscavige Concealed Whereabouts, Federal Judge Says
A U.S. magistrate judge has ruled that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige was “actively concealing his whereabouts or evading service” in a federal trafficking lawsuit and declared him officially served in the case. Judge Julie S. Sneed noted that opposing attorneys had gone to significant lengths to serve Miscavige with the lawsuit filed in Tampa federal […]
Articles | Tampa Bay Times
January 20, 2023
Attorneys Ask Federal Judge to End Scientology Leader’s ‘Cat and Mouse Game’
In a lawsuit against the church, Judge Julie S. Sneed will consider arguments on whether David Miscavige can be served with papers. For months, Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige has played “a cat and mouse game” by evading formal notices in a human trafficking lawsuit, according to Manuel Dominguez, an attorney representing three former […]
In the News | Tampa Bay Times
November 17, 2022
Scientology Workers Signed Contracts Under Duress, Their Lawyers Say
The church disputes that, and now a federal judge will decide if allegations of abuse will be heard by a panel of loyal Scientologists, not the courts. Before Gawain and Laura Baxter could leave their posts as workers aboard the Church of Scientology’s religious ship in the Caribbean in 2012, the couple said they had […]
In the News | Tampa Bay Times
September 19, 2022
Scientology Leader Evades Legal Service in Australian Trafficking Case
Scientology leader David Miscavige has avoided being served with a summons on at least 14 occasions, a US court has been told, as part of a human-trafficking case brought by three Australian residents. The allegations emerged in a Florida civil case brought by Australian Gawain Baxter and residents Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris who have […]
In the News | The Sydney Morning Herald
July 13, 2022
Scientology Says Allegations Should Be Addressed Internally, Not in Court
The argument in response to a Tampa lawsuit by three former members is one the church has used before. The Church of Scientology, faced with new allegations of human trafficking, is mounting a legal defense it has successfully used before. Its lawyers are arguing this week in Tampa federal court that former Scientologists who level […]
In the News | Tampa Bay Times
April 29, 2022
Scientology Faces Abuse Claims
A trio of Australian residents have launched legal action against organizations connected to the Church of Scientology over allegations of child trafficking, covering up multiple sexual assaults, and forced labor. Read the complete article at The Saturday Paper. Cohen Milstein’s Theodore J. Leopold, Manuel J. Dominguez, and Brendan Schneiderman are representing three individuals in a human trafficking and forced labor […]
In the News | The Saturday Paper
April 29, 2022
Inside ‘Freewinds’, the Church of Scientology’s Ship of Fear
When Laura Baxter was accused of monopolising the attention of actor Tom Cruise aboard Scientology’s Caribbean cruise ship in 2004, she says her punishment was to be locked in an “extremely hot” engine room of the Freewinds ship. She was shouted at by church officials and then for three days she says she was only […]
In the News | The Sydney Morning Herald
April 28, 2022
Church of Scientology Accused of Human Trafficking, Forced Labor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Children as Young as 10 Years Old Forced to do Labor in Service of Scientology Instead of Receiving Basic Schooling; Isolated from Parents and Endured Verbal Abuse for Minor or Fabricated Transgressions Plaintiffs Were Compelled to Join the Crew on Scientology’s “Freewinds” Ship, Forced to Work Under Extreme Conditions With No Way […]
Press Releases | Cohen Milstein
April 28, 2022
Ex-Scientologists’ Lawsuit Details Slave-Like Life on Shady Cruise Ship
Three former workers for the Church of Scientology have accused the organization of indoctrinating them as kids, making it physically and psychologically impossible for them to leave what they described as a human trafficking situation. In a lawsuit filed in Florida, the plaintiffs say they were raised within the organization and worked on its Freewinds […]
In the News | The Daily Beast
February 10, 2022
Classwide Arbitration Is Not Dead Yet, as Casino Antitrust Decision Shows
Remember how the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 ruling in Lamps Plus, Inc v Varela was supposed to be lights out for classwide arbitration? Well, it looks like reports of the demise of class arbitration may have been at least slightly exaggerated, after a decision this week from the American Arbitration Association in an antitrust case […]
In the News | Reuters
February 9, 2022
Tribe Can Pursue Class Arbitration in Gambling Supply Suit
A Native American tribe that runs a casino resort in upstate New York can pursue class arbitration in its antitrust case against two suppliers of automatic card shufflers, an arbitrator has ruled. Mohawk Gaming Enterprises LLC, doing business as Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort, is suing Scientific Games Corp. and Bally Technologies Inc., which sell gambling […]
In the News | Law360
June 25, 2021
Alum Profile: Manuel J. “John” Dominguez (’95)
Manuel J. “John” Dominguez, a partner in Cohen Milstein’s Antitrust practice was featured in FSU Law Focus June 25, 2021 e-newsletter. “Attending FSU College of Law was a life-changing event. The professors and my classmates were truly gifted and wonderful people who made the academic environment at the school special and unique. Being in Tallahassee […]
In the News | FSU Law Focus