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Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. has reached a $29 million settlement with workers and agreed to help them in their case against other poultry companies, after the companies were accused of hatching a conspiracy to keep workers’ wages low.
Pilgrim will also allow the deposition of five of its employees and turn over documents related to the class action lawsuit as part of the Pilgrim’s settlement, which still has to be approved by a Maryland federal judge, Law360 reports.
As part of the settlement, the workers have agreed not to bring additional claims against Pilgrim’s in relation to this class action lawsuit.
“The settlement agreement allows plaintiffs to secure key evidence — in the form of documents, deposition testimony, and trial testimony — from Pilgrim’s and its employees,” the Pilgrim’s settlement said.
In the class action lawsuit, filed in 2019, the workers allege that Pilgrim’s, Tyson Foods Inc., Koch Foods LLC, and other large poultry companies held secret meetings and traded information to lower the wages for hundreds of thousands of workers at their more than 200 facilities nationwide. Consulting companies, Webber Meng Sahl & Co. Inc. and Agri Stats Inc., were also alleged by the workers to be part of the scheme, Law360 reported.
Since the class action lawsuit was filed, the poultry companies have tried numerous times to have the case dismissed However, those efforts have been repeatedly shot down, most recently in March by U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher.
The Pilgrim’s settlement was reached with the assistance of mediator Eric D. Green.
George Farah, a partner at Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC and one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, told Law360 that the settlement was excellent “for the class of workers who were deprived of fair compensation for their grueling and dangerous work.”
“It provides both a sizable financial recovery and cooperation in the litigation against the remaining defendants,” he said.
Did you think $29 million is a fair settlement in this conspiracy class action lawsuit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
The workers are represented by Matthew Handley, Rachel Nadas, George Farah, Rebecca Chang and William Anderson of Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC; Daniel Small, Benjamin Brown, Brent Johnson, Daniel Silverman, Alison Deich and Zach Glubiak of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC; and Steve Berman, Breanna Van Engelen, Shana Scarlett and Rio Pierce of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
Pilgrim’s is represented by Aaron L. Casagrande of Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP; and Adam Hemlock, Carrie C. Mahan and Christopher J. Abbott of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
The Chicken Conspiracy Class Action Lawsuit is Jien et al. v. Perdue Farms Inc. et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-2521, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
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