Koch Meals and Jennie-O Turkey Retailer have reached agreements in precept to settle a lawsuit that accuses the corporate of conspiring with different poultry firms to suppress wages and advantages for workers.
A court docket doc, filed on August 20 in america District Court docket, District of Maryland, mentioned an settlement, had been reached between Koch Meals and a category of employees who allege the collusion. The settlement is topic to the drafting of a long-form settlement settlement deemed acceptable to the two events and the court docket. An identical submitting concerning the proposed Jennie-O Turkey Retailer settlement was made in the identical court docket on the next day.
Phrases of the agreements weren’t disclosed.
A proposal to settle doesn’t imply an request for forgiveness.
Different firms to have reportedly settled in a go well with alleging a wage-suppression conspiracy embody Tyson Meals, Amick Farms, Pilgrim’s Delight, Simmons Meals, George’s, Peco Meals, Cargill, Sanderson Farms, Wayne Farms, Perdue Farms, Case Farms and Mountaire Farms. Wayne Farms and Sanderson Farms at the moment are one mixed firm, Wayne-Sanderson Farms.
Koch Meals, in line with data from the WATTPoultry.com Prime Poultry Firms Database, is the sixth largest poultry firm in america. In 2023, the corporate processed 62.1 million kilos of ready-to-cook hen on a weekly foundation. Koch Meals is headquartered in Park Ridge, Illinois, and operates eight slaughter vegetation, 4 additional processing vegetation, seven hatcheries and 6 feed mills.
Jennie-O Turkey Retailer, a subsidiary of Hormel Meals, is the largest turkey producer in america. In 2023, the corporate slaughtered 1.1 billion kilos of dwell turkeys.
