Judge Thomas Durkin of the Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division has joined complaints of bid-rigging to other lawsuits claiming price-fixing by the biggest chicken-processing companies in the United States.
It all began four years ago when lawsuits were filed about the companies reducing broiler supply and manipulating the Georgia Dock price index.
“There is a substantial relationship between the alleged bid-rigging claim and the alleged supply reduction and Georgia Dock price index manipulation claims,” Durkin wrote.
“All three claims have the same goal of maintaining a high price for Broilers, involving the same industry and defendants.”
So far 252 lawyers have put in court appearances and eight million pages of testimony and documents have been filed.
The United States Department of Justice has laid charges against Pilgrim’s Pride and its former chief executive officer, Jayson Penn, and Tyson Foods, plus other big poultry-processing companies.
