Judge affirms class in Pilgrim’s Pride poaching ban class action lawsuit

Pilgrim class action overview:

• Who: A group of more than 24,354 chicken farmers has been certified by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby as part of a class action lawsuit against Pilgrim’s Pride.
• Why: The lawsuit alleges that Pilgrim’s Pride’s no-poaching agreement with other integrators unfairly limits chicken farmers’ wages, eliminating competition for their services.
• Where: The Pilgrim’s Pride class action lawsuit is pending in federal court in Oklahoma.

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More than 24,000 broiler chicken farmers across the United States have been certified for their class in a lawsuit against integrator Pilgrim’s Pride.

In the class action lawsuit, farmers claim that Pilgrim’s Pride’s no-poaching agreement with other integrators unfairly limits chicken farmers’ wages, eliminating competition for their services, as well as the exchange of information between integrators.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby certified a class that included broiler breeders who supplied chickens to Pilgrim’s Pride or any of its 20 alleged co-conspirators covered by the overarching agreement.

“Without the risk that a competitor would steal from Integrator’s growers by offering higher wages, the effect of the NPA, according to plaintiffs, was to artificially reduce growers’ wages by reducing competition,” the PIlgrim’s Pride class action lawsuit states.

Chicken farmers have common, consistent claims within their class, a judge ruled

Shelby found that Pilgrim’s Pride’s no-poaching agreements led to common issues that lead to similar and consistent claims among chicken farmers.

“Given the predominance of common issues in the antitrust and impact elements, any individualized issues that may arise in this element will not overshadow the common issues in the case,” Shelby wrote.

Shelby noted that a recent 10th Circuit decision found that market-wide hallmarks of price fixing include a uniform pricing structure, a price-fixing conspiracy, and an artificially high basis for price negotiations.

In 2021, Tyson and Perdue agreed to two settlements worth $35.75 million to settle a broiler chicken class action lawsuit that alleged they collaborated to reduce profits for chicken farmers.

Do you eat Pilgrim’s Pride Chicken? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Hausfeld LLP and Berger Montague.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. represented by Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP and Foliart Huff Ottaway & Bottom.

The Pilgrim’s Pride Class Action Lawsuit Is In the matter of: Antitrust proceedings concerning chicken breeders in the boiler, Case No. 6:20-md-02977-RJS-CMR, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

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