Tag: antitrust

Poultry can be found in the dishes of almost every culture in the U.S. It is a massive industry, not just in the U.S. but globally. It is estimated that the U.S. has around 518 million chickens waiting to be processed at any given time.

But there may have been some shenanigans happening in the poultry industry of late. A recently filed class-action lawsuit claims that the price of chicken has been rigged and overpriced for the last decade. Tap or click here to see if you qualify for a recent class-action settlement against Zoom.

The Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation details how some of the country’s largest chicken producers fixed prices for over 10 years. While it still needs to be approved by the courts, the class-action lawsuit seeks $181 million in compensation. Keep reading to find out how to get your piece.

Here’s the backstory

To see the merits of the case, you must sift through some heavy-worded court documents. As plainly as possible, the plaintiffs claim that several poultry processors in the U.S. “conspired to restrict the supply of, and fix, raise, and stabilize the price of chicken.”

That means many companies in the industry took it upon themselves to regulate the supply and demand chain, as well as the price that chicken is sold for. The list of companies involved is rather long, but those that have agreed to settle the matter (if it comes down to that) are:

• Fieldale
• George’s
• Mar-Jac
• Peco
• Pilgrim’s
• Tyson

There are about 25 non-settling defendants who will refuse to pay out any claims that might arise from the lawsuit. This includes companies like Wayne Farms, Mountaire Farms, Koch Foods and Perdue Farms.

How to get your cut of the chicken lawsuit

You could join the class-action suit if you meet specific criteria. And if it succeeds, you can receive compensation from the court case. According to the court documents, you can be a member of the Settlement Class if:

• You indirectly purchased fresh or frozen raw chicken from the companies listed
• This excludes chicken that is halal, kosher, free range, or organic
• Purchased the chicken between January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2020

For the case, the definition of chicken is given as “whole birds, or whole cut-up birds within a package.” It also includes white meat parts like breasts and wings.

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