MINNEAPOLIS (LN) — U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim on Monday granted preliminary approval of a class action settlement between indirect pork purchasers and defendants Triumph Foods, LLC and Agri Stats, Inc. in an antitrust litigation.
The order certifies a settlement class of all persons and entities who indirectly purchased raw pork bacon, bellies, loins, shoulders, ribs or pork chops from defendants or co-conspirators for personal consumption between June 28, 2014, and June 30, 2018.
The class covers consumers in 24 states and the District of Columbia, including Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. The class period for Kansas, Tennessee and South Carolina members begins June 28, 2015.
Products marketed as organic or no-antibiotics ever are excluded, as are any pork products other than bacon that are marinated, seasoned, flavored or breaded.
Tunheim stated that the proposed agreements, reached through arm’s-length negotiations by highly experienced counsel, fall within the range of possible approval. He appointed Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Gustafson Gluek PLLC as co-lead counsel for the settlement class.
The judge deferred formal notice to the class to create efficiencies and cost savings, directing plaintiffs to propose a detailed notice plan in a subsequent motion calculated to maximize funds available for distribution.
The action with respect to the consumer indirect purchasers’ claims is stayed as to the released parties except as necessary to effectuate the settlements.