March 22, 2021
An Illinois federal judge on Monday granted preliminary approval to a $104 million settlement with four poultry producers to resolve claims from a group of consumers who say the companies engaged in a long-term scheme to fix prices for broiler chickens.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin said during a hearing Monday that the deal — which was reached with only some of the chicken producers roped into the case: Tyson Foods, Fieldale Farms, Peco Foods and George’s Inc. — appeared to be fair and reasonable and was reached after hard-fought negotiations, with millions of documents exchanged and more than 100 depositions taken.
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The litigation began in September 2016 when private plaintiffs began claiming the nation’s largest broiler chicken producers coordinated and limited chicken production with the goal to raise prices and exchanged detailed information about prices, capacity and sales volume through data compiler Agri Stats Inc.
The end-user plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
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