New settlement reached in chicken price-fixing class action

OK Foods chicken price-fixing settlement overview:

• Who: Plaintiffs told a judge that OK Foods has agreed to a chicken price-fixing class action settlement.
• Why: The OK Foods settlement will resolve claims alleging the company conspired to artificially inflate the price of chicken.
• Where: The chicken price-fixing class action lawsuit is being handled in Illinois federal court.

A new OK Foods settlement could resolve chicken price-fixing claims, Law360 reports.

The settlement notice to an Illinois federal court states OK Foods, OK Farms and OK Industries agreed to settle all of the price-fixing allegations and would therefore not participate in a trial scheduled this fall. 

Details about the OK Foods chicken price-fixing settlement were not immediately available, but the plaintiffs informed the court they would soon seek preliminary approval of the deal.

The plaintiffs also reportedly informed the court they are in settlement talks with other defendants while also preparing for trial. They say they reached settlements in principle with Simmons Foods and House of Raeford.

Chicken price-fixing class action dates back to 2016

The chicken price-fixing class action lawsuit was initially filed in 2016 against a group of the country’s largest broiler chicken producers. The consumer plaintiffs claimed the chicken producers unlawfully coordinated supply restrictions, artificially inflating the price of chickens.

Currently, the chicken price-fixing class action plaintiffs include grocery stores, restaurants, end-user consumers and others affected by the alleged price-fixing scheme. The plaintiffs have been split into three classes: direct purchasers, end users, and commercial and institutional indirect purchasers.

The end users’ chicken price-fixing class action claims are currently scheduled to go to trial in September, though the settlement may change that. The direct purchasers lost at trial last October and the indirect purchasers reached a settlement prior to a trial scheduled for March.

A previous chicken price-fixing class action settlement received final approval on Dec. 20, 2021. Under the terms of that settlement, Tyson agreed to pay $99 million, Pilgrim’s agreed to pay $75.5 million, George’s and Peco each agreed to pay $1.9 million, Fieldale agreed to pay $1.7 million and Mar-Jac agreed to pay $1 million.

In addition to providing cash payments to eligible class members, the settling defendants also agreed to cooperate in the litigation against the remaining defendants.

What do you think about the OK Foods chicken price-fixing settlement? Join the discussion in the comments.

The end user plaintiffs are represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The Chicken price-fixing class action lawsuit is In re: Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:16-cv-08637, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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