DENVER — A Colorado judge granted preliminary approval for settlements totaling over $188 million in a class-action wage-fixing lawsuit targeted at red meat processing companies.

The suit was first filed in 2022 against 18 processors: JBS USA, Tyson Foods, Cargill, Hormel Foods, Rochelle Foods, American Foods Group, Triumph Foods, Seaboard Foods, National Beef, Smithfield Foods, Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp., Agri Beef Co., Washington Beef, Purdue Farms, Greater Omaha Packing Co., Nebraska Beef, Indiana Packers Corp. and Quality Pork Processors. Other defendants included third-party data-sharing firms Agri Stats Inc. and Webber, Meng, Sahl and Co. Inc.

The complaint accused the companies of conspiring to fix and depress the compensation of production and maintenance employees at meat processing plants. The processors allegedly exchanged competitively sensitive compensation data through the third-party firms as well as private meetings.

The class members represent anyone who worked at one of the processors’ approximately 140 facilities in the United States between Jan. 1, 2000, and Feb. 27, 2024.

On Jan. 15, Judge Philip Brimmer with the US District Court for the District of Colorado approved settlement agreements involving six major companies.

As part of the agreements, Tyson Foods will pay $72.5 million, JBS USA will pay $55 million, Cargill will pay $29.75 million, National Beef will pay $14.2 million, Hormel Foods will  pay $13.5 million and American Foods will pay $4 million.

Previous settlements include agreements reached with Perdue ($1.25 million) and Seaboard Foods ($10 million), which bring total recovery to $200.2 million.