American Foods Group’s newest company has reached a settlement in an antitrust case over wage setting

Companies that have not yet filed waivers or announced settlements include Cargill Inc.; Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.; Hormel Foods Corp.; National Beef Packing Company; Iowa Premium LLC; AgriStats Inc.; Webber, Meng, Sahl and Company Inc.; and WMS and Company Inc.

Motions to dismiss the company were filed in federal court by nine of the remaining 17 companies that did not complete the lawsuit.

This includes Agri Beef Co., Washington Beef LLC, Quality Pork Processors Inc., Rochelle Foods LLC, Indiana Packers Corporation, Greater Omaha Packing Co. Inc., Smithfield Foods Inc., Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. and Nebraska Beef Ltd.

The nine plaintiff companies generally argue that they did not participate in the wage-fixing conspiracy alleged by workers simply because they provided information to industry wage indexes that were allegedly used to set wages.

In August 2023, the plaintiffs announced a $10 million settlement with Seaboard Foods and an agreement with Triumph Foods to cooperate in the ongoing case against the other companies. Additionally, the plaintiffs agreed to a $1.3 million settlement with Perdue Farms Inc.

Under the settlement announced in federal court in March 2024, Tyson agreed to pay $72.3 million and JBS $55 million, for a total of approximately $138.5 million.

The original lawsuit alleged that since at least 2014, the companies “conspired and joined together to fix and lower” workers’ wages at approximately 140 red meat processing plants across the country, in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The companies named in the lawsuit produce approximately 80% of all red meat sold to U.S. consumers.

The lawsuit said senior executives at the companies set and approved hourly wages, annual salaries and employee benefits.

The complaint said the companies conducted “secret” compensation surveys and held “secret” annual meetings attended by executives from the companies named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that the companies maintained direct contact with senior executives, who “extensively discussed, compared, and then continued to conceal salaries via email and telephone.”

Employees said the companies entered into no-poaching agreements, preventing companies from recruiting workers from other companies.