Sanderson Farms persuaded a federal jury in Chicago on Wednesday to reject claims by supermarkets, farms and distributors that the chicken producer conspired with industry rivals to suppress supply to artificially drive up prices.
The verdict followed a six-week trial, the first in long-running consumer and commercial chicken price-fixing litigation that has spurred hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements in recent years.
Sanderson, which merged last year to form Oakwood, Georgia-based Wayne-Sanderson, had denied any participation in the alleged chicken price-fixing conspiracy, telling jurors that the company made self-interested production decisions.
"In a time of industry crisis, during which several major chicken producers went bankrupt, Sanderson Farms made independent business decisions to reduce its losses — as any rational business would," Wayne-Sanderson's chief legal officer, Jeremy Kilburn, said in a statement after the trial.
Kilburn said the jury's verdict "vindicates Sanderson Farms and shows that the plaintiffs' case ignored fundamental truths about Sanderson Farms and the nature of the chicken industry."
Lead trial attorneys in the case did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sanderson was represented by lawyers at Proskauer Rose.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin said in June that the plaintiffs' claims could advance to trial. Durkin has not yet ruled on a request from chicken producers to dismiss a separate track of cases.
Dozens of grocery stores including Kroger Co, Publix Super Markets and Winn-Dixie Stores were among the 50 individual plaintiffs at trial. Sanderson was the lone defendant.
The trial also included claims from a class of farms and others representing more than 3,000 businesses that alleged they were overcharged for chicken purchases after producers colluded to curb supply.
The attorneys said in the filing that "there were unprecedented changes in production" in 2008-2009 and 2011-2012.
Direct-purchaser plaintiffs such as Maplevale Farms in New York and Pennsylvania-based John Gross & Company had settled claims with Sanderson rivals for more than $284 million combined.
Classes of commercial and consumer plaintiffs each have settled claims in the litigation for hundreds of millions of dollars.
The case is In re: Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:16-cv-08637.
Read more:
$57 million fee award for consumer lawyers scratched in chicken antitrust appeal
US chicken producers ordered to face price-fixing claims
Chicken price-fixing plaintiffs can proceed as classes
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