Two poultry companies have agreed to settlements in a class-action lawsuit in which the companies were accused of conspiring to keep worker wages down.
According to a report from Reuters, Mountaire Farms and Case Foods will pay a combined $22 million, marking the 10th and 11th deals in the case. Mountaire agreed to pay $13.5 million, and Case said it will pay $8.5 million, revealed the request filed on April 1, 2024.
Neither of the plaintiff companies admitted any wrongdoing, stating that they agreed to settle because of the costs of further litigation. The deal requires Case Foods and Mountaire Farms to provide documents and other information in the ongoing case against the other poultry companies named in the case.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher to grant preliminary approval for the settlement. The case is being heard in the United States District Court, District of Maryland.
“We are proud of our compensation package for all employees, and we work hard to ensure that we pay competitive wages and offer excellent benefits,” Mountaire president and CEO Phillip Plylar said in an e-mailed statement to WATTPoultry. “This case was against an entire industry, and we believe it had no merit. We are happy to put it behind us and focus on the future.”
A spokesperson for Case Farms added that "Case Farms has agreed to settle a lawsuit in Maryland brought by private class-action plaintiffs who alleged the company improperly shared wage and benefits information with other poultry processors in violation of U.S. antitrust laws. Case Farms denies these allegations. Case Farms has an excellent record of competitive wages and benefits."
"In June 2023, after incurring significant legal fees and expending management time over five years defending antitrust claims in a consolidated action filed in Illinois in which it was alleged Case Farms was part of a collusive agreement to depress poultry production, which Case Farms also denied, claims in that trial against Case Farms were dismissed by the federal court in Illinois. Based on that experience, Case Farms determined it was in the best interest of the company to settle the Maryland lawsuit to avoid unnecessary legal expense and management time in another protracted litigation."
Previous settlements in the case include Pilgrim’s Pride ($29 million), Simmons ($12 million), George’s ($5.8 million), Peco ($3 million), WMS (for cooperation), Cargill ($15 million), Sanderson ($38.3 million), Wayne ($31.5 million) and Perdue ($60,650,000).
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Wayne Farms, Sanderson Farms and Cargill were separate companies, but Wayne Farms and Sanderson Farms merged to form Wayne-Sanderson Farms on July 22. That merger was done through a joint venture between Continental Grain Company and Cargill, making Cargill a part-owner of Wayne Sanderson Farms.
The settlements for the antitrust case now total $217.25 million, the filing said.
