Two poultry firms have agreed to settlements in a class-action lawsuit through which the businesses had been accused of conspiring to hold employee wages down.
Based on a report from Reuters, Mountaire Farms and Case Meals pays a mixed $22 million, marking the tenth and 11th offers within the case. Mountaire agreed to pay $13.5 million, and Case mentioned it should pay $8.5 million, revealed the request filed on April 1, 2024.
Neither of the plaintiff firms admitted any wrongdoing, stating that they agreed to settle due to the prices of additional litigation. The deal requires Case Meals and Mountaire Farms to supply paperwork and different data within the ongoing case towards the opposite poultry firms named within the case.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs requested U.S. District Choose Stephanie Gallagher to grant preliminary approval for the settlement. The case is being heard in america District Court docket, District of Maryland.
“We’re pleased with our compensation package deal for all workers, and we work laborious to make sure that we pay aggressive wages and supply wonderful advantages,” Mountaire president and CEO Phillip Plylar mentioned in an e-mailed assertion to WATTPoultry. “This case was towards a whole trade, and we imagine it had no advantage. We’re blissful to place it behind us and give attention to the longer term.”
Case Meals didn’t reply to a WATTPoultry request for remark.
Earlier settlements within the case embody Pilgrim’s Pleasure ($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).
On the time the lawsuit was filed, Wayne Farms, Sanderson Farms and Cargill had been separate firms, however Wayne Farms and Sanderson Farms merged to kind Wayne-Sanderson Farms on July 22. That merger was carried out via a joint enterprise between Continental Grain Firm and Cargill, making Cargill a part-owner of Wayne Sanderson Farms.
The settlements for the antitrust case now whole $217.25 million, the submitting mentioned.
