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Chicken producer Pilgrim’s Pride has reportedly agreed to pay $75 million to end antitrust litigation alleging it and a dozen other companies conspired to drive up broiler chicken prices.
In 2016, a foodservice distribution company filed a class action lawsuit against Pilgrim’s Pride and other major poultry producers, such as Tyson, Perdue and Koch, alleging it and other direct purchasers had been forced to pay higher prices under price-fixing agreements made between the manufacturers. The defendants named in the class action lawsuit allegedly represented 98% of all chicken meat sold in the U.S.
The original complaint and others were consolidated into multidistrict litigation alleging the companies inflated broiler chicken prices by sharing information through the data company Agri Stats Inc.
The reported $75 million settlement by Pilgrim’s Pride joins an earlier $2.25 million settlement with Fieldale Farms Corp. reached in 2017 and several other agreements reached with Peco Foods, Amick Farms and George’s Inc. Settlements with these smaller chicken producers total $13 million.
The $75 million Pilgrim’s Pride settlement is limited to a Class of direct purchasers only, according to court documents. The settlement has also been announced in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that notes the multimillion-dollar agreement will be reflected in Pilgrim’s fourth-quarter financial statements for 2020.
“While Pilgrim’s does not admit any liability for the claims alleged in the Broiler Antitrust Civil Litigation, it believes a settlement was in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” Pilgrim’s SEC filing states.
According to the Greeley Tribune, the settlement comes as a part of a larger investigation into the alleged anticompetitive actions by Pilgrim’s Pride and other chicken producers.
Reportedly, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the alleged anticompetitive conduct by the producers, as well as individual prosecutions of Pilgrim’s Pride executives over antitrust and obstruction of justice charges.
The announcement of Pilgrim’s Pride’s $75 million settlement is joined by another undisclosed settlement with chicken giant Tyson.
“Tyson Foods has reached an agreement in principle to settle a class action lawsuit alleging price fixing filed against Tyson and other poultry companies by entities representing direct purchasers of broiler chicken products,” a spokesperson for Tyson said in an email reported by Food & Beverage Insider. “Tyson believes the resolution is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and the settlement does not constitute an admission of liability.”
Reuters reports both settlements still need to be approved by a federal judge and only settle the claims of direct purchasers.
Have you noticed inflated broiler chicken prices? We want to hear from you. Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiffs and proposed Class Members are represented by Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge LLC.
The Broiler Chicken Price Inflation Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:16-cv-08637, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
332 thoughts onPilgrim’s Pride Settles for $75M to End Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Inflated Broiler Chicken Prices
this is the only brand there is to buy where i live! and prices on every kind of meat have been going up, then down and up twice more since this covid crap! they say there is a shortage, really? there is the same amount of people (except for the ones that died from covid) and more than half are not going out to eat, so why is there a shortage on anything!
This is sick! I have been buying from them for years!!!!!! Add me!
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