MINNEAPOLIS – The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota announced on June 15, that JBS S.A. and three of its US-based subsidiaries agreed to pay $25 million as a settlement in a class action antitrust lawsuit filed on behalf of Commercial and Institutional Indirect Purchaser Plaintiffs. According to the court’s announcement, “If you purchased boxed or case-ready beef processed from fed cattle, from January 1, 2015, through May 25, 2023, for business use in commercial food preparation in the United States, excluding ground beef made exclusively from culled cows, a class action settlement may affect your rights.”
The defendants named in the case include JBS USA Food Co., Swift Beef Co., JBS Packerland Inc. and JBS S.A.
The plaintiffs alleged that JBS and its co-conspirators deliberately limited the supply of beef and fixed prices of beef sold to members of the Settlement Class, dating back to “at least” Jan. 1, 2015.
Members of the settlement class were defined by the court as “all persons and entities who during the settlement class period indirectly purchased for business use in commercial food preparation in the United States, from any of the defendants or their respective subsidiaries and affiliates, boxed or case-ready beef processed from fed cattle, excluding ground beef made exclusively from culled cows from Jan. 1, 2015, to May 25, 2023.”
Those eligible settlement class members could potentially recover money from the settlement funds if they are in the following jurisdictions: Arkansas, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and/or any state where a commercial indirect purchaser claim is permissible.
According to the announcement, “This Settlement only applies to JBS and does not dismiss claims against other defendants in the case entitled In re Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation (Commercial and Institutional Indirect Purchaser Plaintiff Action), Case No. 22-md-3031 (D. Minn.).”
The court said that no money will be distributed at this time as the Settlement Class Counsel continues to pursue the lawsuit against other defendants, and that settlement class members would be notified in the future of the opportunity for them to file a claim, pending a court hearing to decide if the settlement is approved.
More information about the case and settlement member eligibility is available at: www.beefcommercialcase.com.