Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms have received final approval for settlements in class action lawsuits alleging collusion to reduce grower payment. District Judge Robert J. Shelby of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma has approved payments by Tyson of $21 million and Perdue of $14.7 million. Both integrators will cooperate against other class action defendants. These include Koch Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Sanderson Farms.
Of the $35.8 million settlement, legal counsel will receive $11.9 million in fees and $2.3 million in reimbursement. As is customary with settlements, the defendants did not admit to wrongdoing and claimed that settlement was motivated by desire to minimize legal costs and to prevent additional dilution of managerial effort.