Cargill, Other Meatpackers to Settle Wage Case for $57 Million

Cargill Inc., National Beef Packing Co., and Hormel Foods agreed to pay more than $57 million to settle claims that they colluded with other meat suppliers to suppress pay for employees at their beef and pork processing plants.

The proposed settlement, and the plaintiffs’ request for preliminary approval of its terms, was filed Sept. 6 in the US District Court for the District of Colorado. It marks the latest settlement in a case claiming a group of meatpackers secretly agreed to fix and lower the annual wages of workers via no-poaching deals—with help from alleged third-party co-conspirator Agri Stats ...