JBS USA Settles for $20 Million in Pork Price-Fixing Allegations
Another day, another price-fixing lawsuit settlement.
In what has been an ongoing class-action lawsuit of pork price-fixing allegations, the JBS USA unit of Brazil’s JBS SA has been granted approval to settlement of $20 million by Judge John R. Turnheim of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, with nearly $7 million going towards attorney fees and costs.
Previously, JBS USA has paid $12.75 million to indirect purchasers and $24.5 million to direct purchasers, Agri-Pulse reports. In total, JBS USA has settled over $57 million in this case, In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No. 18-01776.
Other defendants in this lawsuit include Hormel Foods Corp; WH Group Ltd’s Smithfield Foods Inc.; Clemens Food Group, LLC; Seaboard Foods LLC; Indiana Packers Corporation; Triumph Foods, LLC; and Tyson Foods Inc., among others, as well as data provider Agri Stats Inc.
“The settlement provides adequate relief for the class in the form of $20 million in monetary compensation and cooperation from JBS in the ongoing litigation,” the court documents state, provided by Agri-Pulse. “The monetary compensation provides substantial, more immediate, and certain relief to the class and eliminates the costs of prosecuting the case against the JBS Defendants.”
Smithfield Foods also added over $80 million to the settlement fund in 2021. To date, over $120 million has been settled by defendants in this case.
Currently, neither company has admitted liability of price-fixing during the time of question.
