Plaintiffs file motion to approve settlements by Tyson and other leading poultry processors in lawsuit claiming they fixed and depressed worker wages.
December 25, 2024
By Kristin Bakker
Nine of the nation's largest poultry processors, including Tyson Foods, have agreed to pay settlements in a years-long antitrust lawsuit alleging that they conspired to depress workers' wages at their facilities.
The plaintiffs in the class action filed a memorandum Dec. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in support of a motion for preliminary approval of the nineadditional new settlements by defendants in the case Judy Jien et al. vs. Perdue Farms et al., which was first filed in 2019 and alleges that 18 chicken companies and two consulting firms – Agri Stats Inc. and Webber, Meng, Sahl & Co. Inc. (WMS) – conspired to fix and depress hourly wages and benefits dating back to Jan. 1, 2009.
The plaintiffs also seek appointment of the settlement class counsel and a stay of the proceedings against the defendants that are settling.
The 18 chicken producers named in the lawsuit, along with several of their subsidiaries, produce the majority of the chicken sold in the U.S.
According to the new court filing, the motion seeks preliminary approval of settlements with defendants Allen Harim Foods for $5 million, Amick Farms for $6.25 million, Butterball LLC for $8.5 million, Fieldale Farms Corp. for $5.5 million, Foster Poultry Farms for $13.3 million, Jennie-O Turkey Store for $3.5 million, Koch Foods for $18.5 million, O.K. Foods for $4.75 million and Tyson Foods and Keystone Foods for a combined $115.5 million.
Settlements were previously entered into with Pilgrim’s Pride for $29 million, Simmons Foods for $12 million, George’s for $5.8 million, Peco Foods for $3 million, WMS (for cooperation), Cargill Meat Solutions for $15 million, Sanderson Farms for $38.3 million, Wayne Farms for $31.5 million, Perdue Farms for $60.65 million, Case for $8.5 million and Mountaire for $13.5 million.
At the root of the lawsuit is the claim that the companies regularly met to share wage and benefit information and conspired to depress the compensation paid to workers at poultry processing plants, hatcheries, feed mills and complexes over a nearly 20-year period, in violation of the Sherman Act, which bars companies from fixing wages or sharing competitively sensitive compensation information.
The lawsuit claimed that most of the poultry processing line workers were paid wages near or below the poverty line and that the companies intentionally targeted vulnerable populations for their workforce, such as migrants and refugees.
The latest agreements, totaling $180.8 million, now bring the grand total in settlements to $398.05 million, which the court filing said represents "the second-largest recovery ever in a labor antitrust class action."
A case is still pending against Agri Stats, the sole defendant yet to reach a settlement agreement.
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