Data company Agri Stats settles poultry worker wage-fixing lawsuit

By Mike Scarcella

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Agricultural data company Agri Stats has agreed to settle a federal antitrust lawsuit alleging that it conspired with major poultry processors in the U.S. to suppress worker wages.

The proposed class action settlement was filed on Friday in the federal court in Baltimore, Maryland and requires a judge’s approval.

The deal with Indiana-based Agri Stats, which provides comparative data in meat processing industries, follows $400 million in settlements from other defendants in the case, including Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, and Sanderson Farms.

Agri Stats, the remaining defendant in the case, will not pay into the settlement fund but has agreed to modify its reporting practices in ways plaintiffs say will benefit poultry workers.

The company and the lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Agri Stats denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, accused processors of violating antitrust law by coordinating compensation at poultry plants, hatcheries, and feed mills. Plaintiffs alleged the companies used Agri Stats' reports to exchange sensitive wage data and keep pay artificially low.

The poultry processors all denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

In its settlement, Agri Stats said it will redact plant-level wage data from nearly 50 chicken reports and apply similar restrictions on any future turkey reports.

The plaintiffs told U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher that the changes are “substantial” and will prevent processors from using the company’s reports to coordinate on the alleged suppression of wages.

The settlement class includes hundreds of thousands of current and former poultry workers employed between 2000 and 2021, the plaintiffs’ court filing showed.

Agri Stats remains a defendant in other antitrust cases, including one filed in 2023 by the U.S. Justice Department in Minnesota. The company has denied the allegations in that lawsuit.

The plaintiffs in the Maryland case said their settlement does not interfere with the government’s case.

The case is Judy Jien v. Perdue Farms Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, No. 1:19-cv-02521.

For plaintiffs: Brent Johnson of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll; Shana Scarlett of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro; and George Farah of Handley Farah & Anderson

For Agri Stats: Justin Bernick, Steven Barley, and William Monts III of Hogan Lovells

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