On Tuesday, Judge Stephanie Gallagher issued an opinion denying, with two partial exceptions, motions to dismiss filed by multiple defendants in Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms, Inc, et al., an action pending in District of Maryland. The case is a putative class action, filed in August 2019, alleging that poultry processing companies and data consultants conspired, in violated of the Sherman Act, to “fix and depress poultry workers compensation” and unlawfully exchange compensation data.
Judge Gallagher begins by summarizing the gravamen of the action: “Plaintiffs Judy Jien [and five other named individual plaintiffs] … on behalf of themselves individually and on behalf of a class of former and current employees, bring suit against twenty poultry processors and several of their subsidiaries or parents … plus two data consulting companies… The Third Amended Complaint [TAC]… alleges two violations of Section One of the Sherman Antitrust Act…” Those violations are “(1) a conspiracy among Defendants [except two] to fix and depress poultry workers’ compensation; and (2) a conspiracy among all Defendants for the unlawful exchange of compensation data.” The class period runs from January 2000 until July 2021.
There are 26 named defendants in the TAC. Judge Gallagher notes that one defendant’s motion to dismiss has been mooted because that defendant ( Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc.) has been dismissed with prejudice. The docket sheet also reflects that another defendant, Simmons Foods, Inc.,...
BEIJING – The China Coast Guard (CCG) on Thursday warned the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringements, provocations and false claims after a Philippine Coast Guard vessel transported ...