2 companies settle poultry wage-fixing claims settle for $22M

Poultry wage-fixing settlement overview: 

• Who: Poultry processing workers asked a Maryland federal judge to grant preliminary approval for a total of $22 million in settlements agreed to by poultry companies Case Foods and Mountaire Farms. 
• Why: The settlements were made to resolve claims the poultry companies participated in wage-fixing in the poultry industry. 
• Where: The complaint was filed in Maryland federal court. 

A group of poultry processing workers asked a Maryland federal judge to preliminarily approve a total of $22 million in settlement agreements with Case Foods and Mountaire Farms, as part of poultry wage-fixing litigation. 

Case Foods and Mountaire Farms would be the tenth and eleventh poultry companies involved in wage-fixing litigation to reach a settlement, with the agreement following ones completed by Pilgrims Pride, Perdue Farms and Cargill Meat Solutions, among others, reports Law360. 

Settlements stemming from the poultry wage-fixing litigation have reportedly reached $217.25 million, with poultry companies Tyson Foods, Koch Foods, Butterball and Agri Stats still among the remaining defendants. 

Case Foods and Mountaire Farms, in addition to the monetary amounts, agreed to cooperate in the ongoing litigation and did not admit to any wrongdoing, reports Law360. 

Case Foods to pay $8.5 million, Mountaire Farms $13.5 million to end poultry wage-fixing claims

The class of poultry processing workers — which reportedly includes workers employed from 2000 until July 2021 — reportedly disclosed the settlement agreement with Case Foods in late February, but details of the deal have only now been revealed. 

Case Foods will pay a total of $8.5 million, while Mountaire Farms agreed to pay a total of $13.5 million, reports Law360. 

Poultry processing workers claimed in a 2019 complaint that the largest poultry companies in the U.S. — along with two consulting companies — worked together to depress their wages. 

“The settlement agreements were reached after more than four years of adversarial and informative litigation,” the poultry processing workers said, as reported by Law360. 

The judge overseeing the wage-fixing litigation last year granted initial preliminary approval of a $60.7 million class action settlement between Perdue Farms and a class of poultry workers. 

Have you been injured by wage-fixing in the poultry industry? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC.

The Poultry wage-fixing settlement is In re: Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms Inc., et al., Case No. 1:29-cv-02521, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Johnsonville turkey sausage recall initiated due to potential rubber contamination
• Charcuterie recall expands to public health alert
• Trader Joe’s dumplings recall announced due to potential plastic contamination
• Recall issued for turkey kielbasa due to potential bone fragments