Tuna buyers reach $1B price-fixing settlement with StarKist

Update: 

• A group of tuna buyers reached settlements with StarKist that will end claims the company conspired with its parent company and a private equity firm to hike the price of canned tuna. 
• Tuna buyers sought more than $1 billion in damages from StarKist, its parent company Dongwon Industries and British private equity firm Lion Capital. Direct purchasers sought $90 million in trebled damages while consumers asked for $224.4 million in trebled damages.  
• The case was set to go to trial July 15. The tuna buyers now need to file motions for preliminary approval by July 25. 
• In 2018, following an investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice, StarKist pled guilty to participating in a scheme to inflate the price of packaged seafood.
• The company reportedly began facing a number of civil complaints in 2015 after news of the government probe became known.

StarKist tuna price-fixing class action overview: 

• Who: StarKist is calling for certification to be vacated in a series of consolidated class action lawsuits over tuna price-fixing.
• Why: The tuna producer claims the judge who granted certification in the multidistrict litigation was conflicted as her or her family-owned stock in some of the plaintiff companies.
• Where: The tuna company made its argument to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

(Dec. 6, 2021)

StarKist tuna argued that certification in a series of consolidated class action lawsuits over tuna price-fixing should be vacated due to “multiple conflicts of interests,” including the presiding judge holding stocks in the plaintiffs’ companies.

Tuna producer StarKist and its parent company, Dongwon Industries Co Ltd, filed a motion with the Ninth Circuit arguing that the class certification approved by US District Judge Janis Sammartino should also be vacated, as her or her family members own stock in several companies involved in the sprawling multidistrict litigation (MDL).

“Allowing Judge Sammartino’s class certification decision to stand would deny defendants a fair and impartial resolution on this important threshold issue and create an impermissible and unacceptable risk of undermining the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judicial process,” Starkist argues in the appeal.

Starkist tuna, others implicated in price-fixing investigation, class action lawsuits

Allegations of price-fixing in the tuna industry stem from a US Department of Justice investigation into the industry’s potential antitrust violations. The investigation led to criminal charges against Bumble Bee Foods LLC and StarKist, Law360 reports.

A number of class actions against tuna producers followed suit in 2015. In July 2019, Sammartino certified classes in the private MDL for groups of direct buyers, end payors, and commercial food preparers. The tuna producers appealed the decision and were successful, but that decision was then vacated with the court which decided to rehear the case en banc.

Now, StarKist, the last producer left in the lawsuit, has appealed the certification decision again, this time following Sammartino’s recusal from the case due to her family members having owned stock in Target Corp and Sysco Corp while the case was pending. Target and Sysco are bringing their own lawsuits over the price-fixing allegations and are also members of the direct purchaser class, StarKist states.

Sammartino, her spouse, or her children have also held financial interests in CVS Health Corp, Costco Wholesale Corp, Amazon.com, Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, and Kroger Co, which are all either direct action plaintiffs or absent putative Class Members, StarKist argues.

“Whether the conflicts of interests affected or impacted Judge Sammartino’s decisions in this case is of no moment. The law requires disqualification where impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” StarKist states.

Did you pay more for StarKist tuna or other products? Tell us about it in the comment section below!

The direct purchasers are represented by Christopher L. Lebsock, Michael P. Lehmann, Bonny E. Sweeney, and Samantha Stein of Hausfeld LLP.

The end payors are represented by Thomas Burt, Betsy C. Manifold, Rachele R. Byrd, Marisa C. Livesay, and Brittany N. Dejong of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP.

The food preparers are represented by Jonathan W. Cuneo, Joel Davidow, and Blaine Finley of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP.

The StarKist tuna price-fixing appeal is Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative et al. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC et al., Case No. 19-56514, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The StarKist tuna price-fixing MDL is In re: Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 3:15-md-02670, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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