Tyson, other pork producers to pay $64 million in new price-fixing settlements

Tyson Foods (TSN.N), opens new tab and two other pork processors have agreed to pay $64 million to resolve a lawsuit claiming they conspired to fix prices for food services providers, in an agreement that pushes total settlements in the case to more than $180 million.

The pork buyers’ attorneys on Tuesday in a court filing asked U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minnesota to preliminarily approve the three new settlements in the class action.

Tyson agreed to pay $50 million to exit the long-running antitrust litigation. The other settling defendants are Clemens Food, which is paying $10 million, and Triumph Foods, which settled for $4 million.

Tyson and the other companies denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The companies and plaintiffs said the settlements will avoid the risk and expense of continuing litigation.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs declined to comment. Tyson and Clemens did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement on Wednesday, Triumph said it increased pork supply during the alleged conspiracy and that the company is confident it would have defeated the claims at trial.

The pork lawsuit, accusing Tyson and other companies of illegal price-fixing, was filed in 2018. Tunheim has overseen related cases from consumers and other buyers.