A lawsuit filed by the District of Columbia against Amazon was reinstated Thursday after a federal appeals court reversed a lower court's dismissal of the case.

A Superior Court trial judge “set too high a bar” for the district's complaint, which presented “sufficient facts to survive” Amazon's motion to have the case dismissed, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled.

The lawsuit, filed in 2021, accused Amazon of engaging in anticompetitive practices in its treatment of third-party sellers, who facilitate the majority of sales through the retail giant's online shopping platform.

“We disagree with the District of Columbia's allegations and are eager to present factual evidence in court demonstrating the consumer benefits of these policies,” Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle said on Thursday. “Just as any store owner would avoid promoting a bad deal to their customers, we do not highlight or promote offers that are not competitively priced.”

The D.C. complaint alleged that the company inflated prices for consumers and hindered innovation through practices like contract provisions that prevented sellers from offering their products at lower prices or on more favorable terms on their own websites or other platforms.

The Superior Court judge granted Amazon's request to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that sellers were free to set their own prices and that the district's claim that Amazon's practices resulted in higher prices was “conclusory.”

The district then challenged the dismissal in the appeals court, leading to Thursday's ruling.

“Our case will now proceed, and we will continue to fight Amazon's unfair and illegal business practices that have increased prices for consumers in the District and hindered innovation and choices in online retail,” District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement.

Amazon is also facing an antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission.