A PYMNTS Company

SCOTUS Allows Price-Fixing Class Action Against Large Tuna Companies To Move Forward

By  |  November 15, 2022

The US Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by StarKist, owned by South Korea’s Dongwon Industries, to avoid a lawsuit by tuna buyers accusing it of fixing prices, Reuters reported.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The justices turned away StarKist’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that let three groups of tuna purchasers receive class-action status to jointly sue the canned tuna company even though a large number of buyers may not have been overcharged and injured by the price fixing.

    Related: Tuna Price-Fixing Case May Regain Class Status

    The case could have given the justices, had they decided to hear it, a chance to make it harder for consumers and other plaintiffs to receive class-action status.

    The Reston, Virginia-based company, which produces StarKist Tuna, had asked the Supreme Court to consider whether plaintiffs could still win class-action status in cases in which some of the members of the class were not injured by a company’s alleged wrongdoing.