Tyson Foods is paying $55 million and Cargill$ 32.5 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit alleging they conspired to inflate U.S. beef prices by limiting supply.
It is the first consumer settlement in the beef price-fixing lawsuit that was filed in 2019.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys estimate the class includes about 36 million consumers who indirectly purchased beef products such as chuck, loin and ribs between August ,2014, and December, 2019, ,from retailers including Walmart and Costco. The retailers are not defendants in the case.
Under the settlement terms, Tyson and Cargill agreed to cooperate with consumers pursuing claims against the remaining defendants, JBS USA and National Beef Packing, which have denied wrongdoing. An expert for the plaintiffs estimated total consumer damages at $1.9 billion.
The beef settlement follows Tyson’s separate $85 million deal last week resolving similar allegations in the pork industry.
