Smithfield, Agri Get Meat Workers Wage-Fix Suit Trimmed By Court

Smithfield Foods Inc., Agri Beef Co., and other meat processing companies must face claims they conspired to fix and lower workers’ wages, a federal judge said Wednesday, but some of the allegations are time-barred.

The proposed class action lawsuit sufficiently alleged the companies exchanged sensitive compensation data, including the amount and dates of planned future hourly wage increases from 2000 to 2019, the US District Court for the District of Colorado said. However, the complaint’s allegations from before 2020 are outside the four-year statute of limitations, the court said.

The ruling trimmed an amended complaint in a lawsuit against ...