Hormel Foods, subsidiary Rochelle Foods and supplier Quality Pork Processors have settled a class-action lawsuit alleging illegal wage-fixing for a combined $13.5 million.
Hormel, affiliated meatpackers settle wage-fixing lawsuits for $13.5 million
Hormel subsidiary Jennie-O Turkey Store also settled similar claims.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 26, 2024 at 10:46PM
![Hormel headquarters in Austin, MN. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Friday September 11, 2015 Despite woes throughout the food industry, partly due to consumers turning away some from processed foods, Hormel has managed to continue prospering -- even though a good part of its business -- Spam, chili -- is about as processed as you can get. But the company's turkey and pork offerings are riding a hot protein trend. And over the past two years, it's made some of the biggest acquisitions in](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/527MWWMEXAN6BDVVGMMGBOERGU.jpg?&w=712)
Plaintiffs accused the Austin, Minn.-based food company of a “conspiracy to fix and depress compensation to red meat processing plant workers” going back a decade, according to the federal lawsuit. The company reportedly shared compensation data with competitors to “artificially depress” wages and benefits throughout the industry.
Hormel subsidiary Jennie-O Turkey Store also reached a settlement in a separate wage-fixing case last week. Terms of that deal were not public.
“Hormel Foods strongly denies liability and continues to deny the allegations in each of these complaints. Hormel Foods believes it has valid defenses to the claims,” the company said in a statement. “However, to avoid the uncertainty, risk, expense and distraction of continued litigation, the company has decided to settle these cases.”
A number of meat companies have agreed to hundreds of millions worth of settlements in wide-ranging federal lawsuits alleging price-fixing and other anti-competitive behavior in recent years.
The party supply company told employees on Friday that it’s going out of business.
