Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 3/13/18



Chicken growers have been enjoined from proceeding with an antitrust lawsuit as filed late last year alleging that Pilgrim’s Pride participated with other major poultry companies in a “cartel” to fix prices and boost profits, according to federal court documents.

The order comes as a result of a decision Monday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Texas to enforce provisions of a reorganization plan that Pilgrim’s filed in November 2009 after the company filed for bankruptcy amid massive financial losses during the Great Recession.

That plan, confirmed by the court, together discharged all claims against Pilgrim’s that arose before the plan’s effective date — Dec. 28, 2009 — and enjoined all creditors and parties from prosecuting or asserting any discharged claim against the company.

The growers filed the antitrust class-action complaint in district court in Oklahoma against Pilgrim’s and other industry peers on Jan. 27, 2017.

Pilgrim’s argued that the growers’ claims and damages in the complaint are just ripple effects from conduct that occurred before the reorganization plan’s effective date, and therefore were discharged pursuant to the plan and court’s confirmation order.

The growers argued that although their lawsuit includes facts that occurred prior to the plan’s effective date, including no-poach agreements and an alleged conspiracy that began as early as 2008, the growers are only seeking damages from Jan. 27, 2013 to the present.

The bankruptcy court’s order on Monday enjoins the growers from moving forward with the antitrust lawsuit as it exists. Meanwhile, although the order bars the growers from fighting conduct that occurred before Dec. 28, 2009, it also allows them to pursue any cause of action against Pilgrim’s for conduct that occurred after that date.

The growers’ complaint alleges pre- and post-effective date misconduct, including that Pilgrim’s used non-public competitive sensitive information through Agri Stats, a Fort Wayne, Ind., third-party data aggregation and consulting firm. (Multiple lawsuits similarly allege that Pilgrim’s and other major chicken companies shared data provided by the firm to carry out a price fixing scheme.)

The bankruptcy court deferred to the district court the process of discovery between Pilgrim’s and the growers over post-Dec. 28, 2009, litigation.

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