Hartley LLP filed a class action complaint on behalf of direct purchasers of packaged beef products from the country’s largest beef meatpackers, Cargill, National Beef, Tyson and JBS. The complaint, filed in the District of Minnesota, alleges the defendants engaged in anticompetitive behavior at both ends of their product lines in order to artificially inflate margins to record levels. Defendants both agreed to coordinate their offers to buy fed cattle at low prices and also conspired to raise the prices of the beef they sold after processing the cattle. Defendants together control over 80% of the United States market for beef, selling nearly $50 billion annually between them. The U.S. Department of Justice issued Civil Investigative Demands on each of the Defendants in June, 2020 and the Department of Agriculture is investigating anticompetitive behavior as well.
About Hartley LLP
Hartley LLP represents victims of anticompetitive conduct like price fixing agreements, unfair competition, tying agreements and monopolization. Its attorneys have worked to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for their clients. For more information about the firm, visit https://hartleyllp.com/results/.