Sanderson Farms, Perdue Settle Antitrust Class Action Lawsuits

A federal judge approved Tuesday settlements ending antitrust litigation accusing Sanderson Farms Inc., Perdue Farms Inc., and other poultry companies of anticompetitive practices intended to increase the price of chicken broilers.

Judge Thomas Durkin of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the case’s “direct purchaser” plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of settlement with 15 defendants. The defendants included Case Foods Inc., Claxton Poultry Farms Inc., Foster Farms LLC, Perdue Farms Inc., and Sanderson Farms. At this point in the litigation, which began in 2016, the direct purchaser certified class has one extant legal dispute ...