Eighteen of the largest poultry companies in the United States are among the defendants in a lawsuit filed on behalf of three former poultry plant workers who claim the companies conspired to fix wages for plant workers.
The suit, which was filed on August 30 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, alleges collusion between Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, Koch Foods, Wayne Farms, Peco Foods, Mountaire Farms, Simmons Foods, Fieldale Farms, George’s Inc., House of Raeford Farms, OK Foods, Harrison Poultry, Mar-Jac Poultry, Amick Farms, Case Foods, Allen Harim Foods, Agri Stats and Weber Meng Sahl & Co.
The lawsuit alleges the companies have been conspiring since January 1, 2009, to fix worker wages. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that “off the books” meetings were held among management personnel while attending a U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) Human Resources Seminar in Destin, Florida. Those meetings were not a formal part of the event, and therefore were not on the agendas.
During those “off the books,” meetings, defendant companies allegedly exchanged information, discussed and ultimately set uniform wages, according to a court filing.
The suit also alleges, based “upon information and belief,” that similar conspiring to fix wages took place among defendant company representatives who were attending other meetings of the National Chicken Council, Joint Poultry Industry Human Resources Council, Georgia Poultry Federation, North Carolina Poultry Federations, and The Poultry Federation.
Additionally, the plaintiffs alleged the defendant poultry companies conspired to set wages through surveys of poultry companies conducted by Agri Stats.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, according to the filing, are Judy Jieb, who was employed at Tyson Foods and George’s during the time of the alleged collusion; Kico Jibidi, a former employee of Simmons Foods and Tyson Foods, and Elaisa Clement, a former employee of George’s.
Legal firms filing the suit, according to the court document, are Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, Cohen Milsttein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. The latter has a history of lawsuits that allege collusion among animal protein companies. The firm has been involved with suits that allege the poultry industry conspired to limit chicken meat supply in an effort to raise prices, and another suit that claims pork companies also conspired to inflate prices.
