Canned Tuna Price-Fixing Class Action Lawsuits Consolidated into MDL

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Nine putative class action lawsuits and 44 related cases that accuse the largest producers of canned tuna of a price-fixing scheme have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in California’s Southern District.

The canned tuna class action lawsuits accuse StarKist Co., Bumble Bee Foods LLC, and Thai Union Frozen Products-owned Tri-Union Seafoods LLC, which produces “Chicken of the Sea,” of conspiring together in order to fix, raise and maintain the price of tuna.

U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino, who is already overseeing six of the canned tuna antitrust class action lawsuits, will be in control of all of the other related MDL cases.

“Centralization of this litigation in the Southern District of California will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation,” the JPML said Thursday. “These actions share factual questions arising out of an alleged conspiracy by defendants—the three largest producers of packaged seafood products in the U.S. with an alleged collective market share of more than 70%—to fix prices of packaged seafood products.”

One of the first proposed canned tuna price-fixing class action lawsuits against StarKist, Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea was filed by Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative Inc. in California’s Southern District last August.

According to Olean’s canned tuna class action lawsuit, consumption of canned tuna has declined over the last few years, but prices have not. Olean states that in 2005 the average person ate 3.1 pounds of tuna but by 2013 the average dropped to 2.3 pounds. Olean alleges that the rational business action would be to reduce the price of tuna but that didn’t happen and the raw material costs of tuna cannot be blamed.

The canned tuna price-fixing class action lawsuit accuses Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist of violating sections 1 and 3 of the Sherman Act by working together in order to artificially fix, raise and maintain tuna and other packaged seafood products within the United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia.

After Olean filed its antitrust class action lawsuit, five more were filed in California’s Southern District, two canned tuna class action lawsuits were filed in Northern California and one other was filed in a Mississippi district court. According to the JPML, the 44 similar canned tuna lawsuits will likely join the consolidated multidistrict litigation.

In addition, the JPML states that having the cases centrailized in the Southern District of California was reasonable considering that three of the seafood packaging defendants have headquarters there so relevant documents and witnesses should be able to be found.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Blecher & Collins, Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP, Hausfeld LLP, Motley Rice LLP, Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP and Block & Leviton LLP.

The Canned Tuna Price Fixing Class Action Lawsuit 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.

UPDATE: On May 8, 2017, Bumble Bee Foods will reportedly enter a guilty plea in response to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into claims that the seafood company engaged in an antitrust scheme to fix the prices for shelf-stable tuna. Bumble Bee will also reportedly pay at least $25 million in criminal fines, but the maximum criminal fine could be as much as $81.5 million if the company is sold, according to the DOJ.

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 25, 2019, Walmart secured a $20.5 million settlement in a consolidated set of class action lawsuits alleging StarKist entered into a conspiracy to fix the price of canned tuna.

UPDATE 3: On Jan. 17, 2020, plaintiffs in a $6.5 million Chicken of the Sea settlement will have to go back to the drawing board after a federal judge denied preliminary approval.