Egg Product Class Action Settlement

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This summer’s massive egg recall has resulted in several individual and class action lawsuits against the farms and retailers allegedly responsible for the widespread salmonella outbreak. While those lawsuits currently remain pending, a separate class action filed nearly two years ago against three of the U.S.’s largest egg producers over price-fixing charges has reached a partial settlement. As a result, anyone who has purchased eggs in the last 10 years could receive benefits from the class action lawsuit settlement.

The lawsuit, entitled In re Processed Egg Products Antitrust Litigation, was filed as the result of a previous class action settlement with Sparboe Farms, Inc. over an alleged conspiracy by Sparboe and other egg producers to depress the supply of eggs in the United States. As part of the 2009 Sparboe settlement, Sparboe agreed to provide more details about the alleged conspiracy, which were included in the second consolidated amended complaint filed on April 7, 2010 against Moark, LLC; Norco Ranch, Inc. and Land O’ Lakes, Inc.

The egg price-fixing class action alleges that the defendants conspired together to limit, fix, raise, stabilize or maintain the price of eggs, which caused direct purchasers to pay more for eggs than they would have otherwise paid. This was allegedly done through methods that included agreeing to limit or dispose of hen flocks, agreeing to export eggs in order to remove eggs from the domestic supply, a pre-textual animal husbandry program that was a cover to further reduce egg supply, and more. This wide-ranging conspiracy affected both shell eggs and egg products, which are eggs removed from their shells for further processing into a dried, frozen or liquid form.

Two of the defendants in the egg antitrust class action lawsuit — Norco Ranch and Land O’Lakes — remain in litigation, but Moark agreed to settle the case in May. As part of the Moark settlement, anyone who purchased eggs, including shell eggs and egg products, produced from caged birds in the United States directly from any producer during the class period from January 1, 2000 through July 15, 2010 can file a claim to receive a pro rata share of the $25 million Moark class action settlement. Moark has also agreed under the class action settlement to cooperate, just as Sparboe did, by providing more details about the egg price-fixing conspiracy.

To receive your share of the Moark egg conspiracy class action settlement, you must mail in a claim form via first-class mail postmarked or hand-delivered by January 7, 2011. If you wish to object to or exclude yourself from the Moark settlement, you must submit your request by November 16, 2010. Downloadable claim forms and instructions on how to file a claim can be found at www.eggproductsettlement.com.

For more detailed information on the Moark Egg Product Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Settlement and how to file a valid claim to get your share of the settlement, visit our Open Lawsuit Settlements section.