Smithfield’s $42 Million Pork Antitrust Deal Gets Initial Nod

Restaurants leading antitrust litigation over an alleged industrywide scheme to fix pork prices secured preliminary approval from a federal judge in Minneapolis for their $42 million settlement with Smithfield Foods Inc., which is already paying $83 million to exit a parallel lawsuit by wholesalers.

Judge John R. Tunheim signed off tentatively Tuesday on the agreement to resolve class action claims brought against Smithfield in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of “commercial and institutional indirect purchasers” like restaurants and caterers.

Smithfield is the second major meatpacker to begin settling the suit, which accuses the pork ...