Chicken of the Sea’s $40 Million Antitrust Deals Get Initial Nod

The consumers, restaurants, and bulk tuna buyers leading class action litigation over an alleged industrywide price-fixing scheme won preliminary approval from a federal judge in San Diego for a trio of settlements with Chicken of the Sea International worth about $40 million in total.

Judge Dana M. Sabraw signed off tentatively late Wednesday on the agreements, which would resolve antitrust claims on behalf of “direct purchasers,” “end payers,” and “commercial food preparers” after more than six years of litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

The pacts call for payments of $20 million to the ...