A group of broiler chicken growers has filed a federal class action lawsuit accusing nearly 30 poultry companies of conspiring to suppress grower pay and eliminate competition through a long-running “no-poach” agreement and coordinated data sharing.
The lawsuit was filed Oklahoma and named industry giants Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride, Perdue Farms, Koch Foods, Sanderson Farms plus dozens of other vertically integrated processors.
The farmers claim the companies — referred to collectively as “the Cartel” — used an unwritten agreement not to recruit or hire one another’s contract growers, thereby depressing compensation and locking farmers into exploitative, high-debt contracts.
The growers also alleged the companies used Agri Stats, a third-party data firm, to exchange confidential pay information and monitor compliance with the no-poach pact. These practices, they argued, effectively eliminated competition for broiler grow-out services nationwide.
According to the complaint, integrators used rigid “tournament” pay systems to rank growers against one another and limit payouts. Even top performers were paid less than they would have earned in a competitive market because their bonuses were tied to a suppressed base rate shared across companies.
The complaints are familiar to anyone who has watched the documentary Super Size Me 2, Holy Chicken!
Creator Milton Spurlock, who died last year, documented his experiences establishing a fast-food chicken restaurant and featured a farmer who was contracted to one of the major chicken processing companies and was black-listed for his co-operation with Spurlock.
The lawsuit cites a May 2024 class certification decision in In Re Broiler Chicken Grower Antitrust Litigation (No. II) as the moment plaintiffs gained access to previously undisclosed evidence supporting their claims. The growers now seek treble damages under the Sherman Antitrust Act and Packers and Stockyards Act, along with a jury trial.
Federal prosecutors have previously stated that no-poach agreements among employers are per se illegal under antitrust law.
