Pilgrim’s Pride in $100 million settlement over chicken farmers' pay

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Pilgrim's Pride, one of the largest U.S. poultry processors, agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims it conspired with rivals to underpay chicken farmers, the final and by far the largest settlement in the seven-year-old antitrust case.

A preliminary settlement was filed on Friday with the U.S. District Court in Muskogee, Oklahoma. It requires approval by U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby, who normally sits in Utah. Pilgrim's Pride denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

The litigation addressed accusations that large poultry producers conspired to keep farmers' pay artificially low, by sharing confidential information about compensation and by agreeing not to actively recruit each others' farmers.

Pilgrim's Pride is the last remaining defendant. If its settlement is approved, the total recovery will be $169 million, minus legal fees and other expenses.

Tyson Foods, Sanderson Farms, Koch Foods and Perdue Foods previously settled for $21 million, $17.75 million, $15.5 million and $14.75 million, respectively.

Pilgrim's Pride, based in Greeley, Colorado, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gary Smith, a lawyer for the farmers, called the settlement an "outstanding" result that he believed was the largest antitrust settlement by any meatpacker or poultry processor.

The settlement covers a certified class of 24,354 so-called growers from Jan. 27, 2013, through Dec. 31, 2019, court papers show.

Growers provide land, labor and equipment to raise chickens until the animals are ready for slaughter, and then return the animals to poultry producers.

The case is In re: Broiler Chicken Grower Antitrust Litigation (No. II), U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Oklahoma, No. 20-md-02977.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)