On Monday a judge in Chicago declined to dismiss an antitrust suit against Butterball, Cargill, Perdue Farms and a group of other turkey suppliers accused of price-fixing and and limiting supply in the turkey meat market.
US District Judge Virginia Kendall said in her order that plaintiffs representing buyers of of turkey meat from 2010 to 2017 will be allowed to pursue claims against the turkey suppliers.
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Judge Kendall ruled on amended complaints that she permitted the plaintiffs’ to bring after dismissing a price-fixing allegation at an earlier stage of the litigation. She said in Monday’s ruling that “plaintiffs’ claims give rise to an inference of a price-fixing conspiracy sufficient to state a claim and survive the motion to dismiss.”
In March the defendants argued in a court filing that “despite access to expansive discovery, plaintiffs do not allege any direct evidence” of a price-fixing conspiracy. The companies also said “plaintiffs ignore obvious alternative explanations for that conduct other than conspiracy.”
