Latest Tuna Price-Fixing Class Action Filed by Cherokee Nation

Six companies in the international canned tuna industry are facing new accusations of tuna price-fixing from a Native American tribal government.

Plaintiff Cherokee Nation accuses defendants Bumble Bee Foods LLC, StarKist Co., Del Monte Corp., and three companies based in Korea and Thailand of conspiring to manipulate the price of shelf-stable packaged tuna.

From as far back as 2004 and through at least July 2015, the tribe claims, the defendants engaged in unlawful, anti-competitive behavior that artificially raised the price of canned tuna within the U.S. The alleged collusion involved several different anti-competitive tactics designed to increase the tuna companies’ revenues.

The defendant companies allegedly raised the price of their products in coordination with each other. They agreed to limit their promotional offers for packaged tuna, and they allegedly reduced the size of the cans and pouches in which packaged tuna was sold, the Cherokee Nation claims.

As a result of this alleged tuna price-fixing conspiracy, the plaintiffs allegedly paid more for packaged tuna than they should have had to.

“By reason of the alleged violations of the antitrust laws and other laws alleged herein, Plaintiff has sustained injury to its businesses or property, having paid higher prices for Packaged Tuna than it would have paid in the absence of Defendants’ illegal conduct,” the complaint reads. “This is an antitrust injury of the type that the antitrust laws were meant to punish and prevent.”

With this tuna price-fixing lawsuit, the Cherokee Nation joins an epic wave of canned tuna antitrust litigation that has been going on for years and involves parties from all over the world.

In 2015, more than four dozen tuna price-fixing antitrust lawsuits were consolidated into a single multidistrict litigation to be run by a federal court in California. Nine of the consolidated cases were proposed class actions.

Related allegations were the subject of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which earlier this year secured a guilty plea from Bumble Bee Foods.

The DOJ accused Bumble Bee of conspiring with would-be competitors in the canned tuna market between 2011 and 2013. The companies allegedly agreed to avoid competing within that market, in an effort to artificially increase the price of canned tuna.

Bumble Bee agreed to a minimum $25 million fine as part of the settlement, potentially increasing to $81.5 million if the company is sold, the DOJ said.

The Cherokee Nation is seeking an award of damages, restitution, and disgorgement of profits. It is asking the court to enjoin the defendants from any further conspiracy as alleged in the complaint. It seeks an award of pre- and post-judgment interest on all amounts outstanding, as well as reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Representing the Cherokee Nation are attorneys Don F. Livornese, Robert F. Ruyak and Rebecca R. Anzidei of Ruyakcherian LLP, Richard W. Fields of Fields PLLC, in cooperation with Cherokee Nation Attorney General M. Todd Hembree and Assistant Attorneys General John Young and Chad Harsha.

The Cherokee Nation Tuna Price-Fixing Lawsuit is The Cherokee Nation v. Bumblebee Foods Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-02332-JLS-MDD, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.