Sysco meat price fixing settlement enforceable, Federal Court orders

According to Bloomberg, Sysco Corp. must join a global settlement in meat price fixing lawsuits despite opposition from litigation funder Burford Capital. On Friday, an Illinois federal judge ruled that Sysco’s acceptance of a settlement with beef, pork and chicken producers is enforceable.

Judge Thomas M. Durkin ruled that although Sysco did not formally sign the agreement, the company agreed to basic aspects of the settlement through email communications and draft documents. “This is sufficient objective evidence of an agreement to be enforceable,” Durkin wrote in his decision.

The ruling adds to an ongoing legal battle involving Burford, Sysco and meat producers accused of conspiring to inflate meat prices. Burford gave Sysco $140 million to pursue these antitrust cases. However, disputes arose last year when Burford deemed the settlement amount insufficient. Sysco then agreed to transfer its claims to the Burford subsidiary, a move opposed by other parties involved in the litigation, Bloomberg reports.

Read more: Judge blocks Sysco’s bid to assign price-fixing claims to Burford Capital

“It is disturbing that the court today chose to enforce a purported agreement that the parties apparently never considered binding,” Burford spokesman David Helfenbein said in an emailed statement. “We think corporate America will be surprised to learn that emails from mid-level corporate officials could be enough to oblige companies to pay significant settlements in the absence of settlement agreements.”

In March, Durkin allowed Sysco to assign its chicken price-fixing claims to Burford. But earlier this month, a federal judge in Minnesota denied a similar change in related beef and pork pricing cases.

In his Friday ruling, Durkin upheld a request by Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, one of the chicken producers sued for price fixing, to enforce a global agreement covering poultry, beef and pork cases.

Source: Bloomberg Law News