February 13, 2025
A Maryland federal judge gave her blessing to several settlements totaling approximately $180 million in a suit accusing a slew of poultry companies of conspiring to keep wages low at their plants, greenlighting what the workers called “a historic recovery.”
U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher granted the workers’ motion for preliminary approval of the settlements Tuesday, saying the deals are “sufficiently fair, reasonable, and adequate to authorize dissemination of notice” to the settlement class.
The companies the workers reached the deals with are Allen Harim Foods LLC, Amick Farms LLC, Butterball LLC, Fieldale Farms Corp., Foster Poultry Farms, Jennie-O Turkey Store Inc., Koch Foods Inc., O.K. Foods Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and Keystone Foods LLC.
The companies agreed to pay different amounts: Allen Harim Foods $5 million, Amick Farms $6.25 million, Butterball $8.5 million, Fieldale Farms $5.5 million, Foster Poultry Farms $13.3 million, Jennie-O Turkey Store $3.5 million, Koch Foods $18.5 million, O.K. Foods $4.75 million and Tyson and Keystone $115.5 million.
The settlement class includes all workers those companies, their subsidiaries and related entities employed at their poultry processing plants, poultry hatcheries, poultry feed mills and poultry complexes in the U.S. from Jan. 1, 2000, to July 20, 2021, according to the order.
Those settlements add up to other deals the workers have already reached and the court preliminarily approved, according to the workers’ December motion for preliminary approval.
All combined, the workers’ recovery is set at approximately $398 million, “the second-largest recovery ever in a labor antitrust class action,” the workers said in the motion.
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Brent W. Johnson of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, who is representing the workers, declined to comment Wednesday.
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The workers are represented by Brent W. Johnson, Benjamin D. Brown, Daniel H. Silverman and Alison S. Deich of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Shana E. Scarlett, Rio R. Pierce, Steve W. Berman, Breanna Van Engelen and Elaine T. Byszewski of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Matthew K. Handley, Rachel E. Nadas, George F. Farah, Rebecca P. Chang and William Anderson of Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, Brian D. Clark and Stephen J. Teti of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP and Candice J. Ender and Julia R. McGrath of Berger Montague.
Read $180M Deals in Poultry Process Wage-Fixing Row Get First OK.