Perdue Farms will pay $60.7 million to settle claims it improperly shared wage and benefits information to keep a lid on wages, in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.
After more than three years of litigation, the proposed settlement and the plaintiff’s request for approval of its terms was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Bloomberg Law reported.
Perdue in December agreed to settle the case, saying it wanted to avoid costly litigation.
“To be clear, we deny these allegations, and Perdue’s record of competitive wages and benefits speaks for itself,” a company spokesperson told Meatingplace at the time.
The company reiterated that statement to a new request for comment.
Salisbury, Md.-based Perdue was among 18 chicken processors sued for allegedly violating the Sherman Act by conspiring to keep down hourly pay at poultry plants.
