Perdue Farms Finalizing Deal to Exit Antitrust Suit by Farmers

Perdue Farms LLC has reached an agreement in principle resolving class action antitrust claims over its alleged role in a scheme to drive down compensation for chicken farmers until they’re permanently indebted “modern-day sharecroppers,” according to a federal court filing in Oklahoma.

The farmers leading the lawsuit disclosed July 23 that they’re “working to finalize and document all terms of the proposed class action settlement,” which comes about six weeks after they notified Judge Robert J. Shelby of a tentative deal with Tyson Foods Inc. Those deal terms aren’t yet public.

In addition to Perdue and Tyson, the multidistrict lawsuit ...