A trio of meatpacking companies has agreed to settle a wage-fixing lawsuit for more than $57 million. The settlement comes following allegations that Cargill Inc., National Beef Packing Company and Hormel Foods suppressed employee wages by colluding together via no-poaching agreements.
Cargill agreed to pay $29.75 million, National Beef will pay $14.2 million and Hormel Foods will pay $13.5 million.
Earlier this year, Tyson and JBS agreed to pay a combined $127.2 million to settle in the same case. Perdue also agreed to settle for $1.25 million and Seaboard Foods settled for $10 million. Triumph Foods entered a cooperation deal with the plaintiffs. Smithfield Foods, also named in the case, has yet to settle.
The latest settlement was filed Sept. 6 in the District Court for the District of Colorado.
“Plaintiffs have now recovered over $200 million on behalf of a class of workers at the processing plants at defendants’ red meat facilities across the country,” court documents read. “These are the seventh, eighth and ninth settlements reached in this case. Seven defendant families remain.”
Settlement details
The lawsuit alleged the country’s leading red meat processors and two consulting companies conspired to stabilize the wages paid to workers at processing plants. Plaintiffs’ counsel assessed industry wages, interviewed industry witnesses and researched the red meat processing industry, finding evidence that packers violated the Sherman Act.
The packers filed motions to dismiss the claims in February 2023, but the court denied the motions, finding sufficient evidence to pursue both claims of wage-fixing and information exchange. In January 2024, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that extended the class period and named additional defendants and allegations. Motions to dismiss that complaint are still pending in the court.
“Settling defendants have not admitted to any liability or wrongdoing, and maintain that they have strong defenses to plaintiffs’ claims,” court documents read.
Cargill said it “chose to settle this case only to avoid larger litigation costs and distractions from the critical work our production teams do, providing enough beef to feed 72 million people every single day.”
Hormel Foods responded similarly, stating, “Hormel Foods strongly denies liability and continues to deny the allegations in the plaintiffs’ complaint. To avoid the uncertainty, risk, expense and distraction of continued litigation, the company has decided to settle this case.”
National Beef Packing did not immediately respond to a comment request by Meat+Poultry. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
