JBS Pork Price-Fixing Settlement Worth $24.5M

JBS will pay US$24.5 million and cooperate against other large pork processors like Tyson Foods and Hormel Foods to settle part of a proposed class action alleging an industrywide price-fixing scheme, Bloomberg Law. 

The filing comes about a month after the agreement in principle was disclosed in a November 4 court filing, which indicated it would resolve claims brought by “direct purchasers” like wholesalers, but not consumer or retailer claims that are consolidated with them. The deal’s terms weren’t made public at the time.

Also named in the complaint are Agri Stats, Clemens Food Group, Hormel Foods, Indiana Packers, Seaboard Foods, Smithfield Foods, Triumph Foods, and Tyson Foods.

The proposed agreement does not cover lawsuits filed by consumers and retailers which the court agreed to consolidate with the direct purchasers’ lawsuit.

In August of 2019, the court dismissed the lawsuits on grounds that plaintiffs did not adequately prove parallel conduct enough to support an inference of a conspiracy. However, the court did grant the plaintiffs leave to amend their complaints.

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