Hard Times for Pilgrim’s Pride

A federal judge made a partial dismissal of a shareholder’s lawsuit against Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken producer, removing the current CEO from the legal proceedings while allowing claims against both the company and its former CEO to move forward.

Pilgrim’s Pride coordinated its broiler chicken prices with competitors Tyson and Sanderson Farms in 2008. Together, these three companies account for about half of the chicken sales in the United States. Rather than competing, they colluded to artificially inflate prices.

Investor Patrick Hogan filed a class action against Pilgrim’s Pride in 2016, alleging that the company deceived investors in press releases and communications by praising its competitive prowess, which supposedly drove substantial profits. George Fuller, who acquired 7,500 shares of company stock in 2015, has since sought to become the lead plaintiff.

Despite initial gains, investors claimed they suffered losses when the collusion was exposed. Since the shareholders initiated legal action, Pilgrim’s Pride and its executives faced criminal charges. The company admitted guilt in 2021 for price-fixing and bid-rigging of broiler chickens, resulting in a $107 million fine from the Department of Justice.

In 2020, a group of workers also sued the company over the impact of the scandal on pension funds. Senior U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson dismissed the case in March 2018, initially considering it ‘premature but not necessarily hopeless.’ Subsequently, Jackson allowed the shareholders to file an amended complaint. When the revised complaint was submitted over a year later, Pilgrim’s Pride sought dismissal. Jackson initially granted the dismissal, citing the expiration of a five-year repose. However, the shareholders successfully appealed to the 10th Circuit, leading to a reversal in July.

Following a review of the second amended complaint filed in 2020, Jackson dismissed Fabio Sandri, the company’s former CFO and current CEO, but retained claims against former CEO William Lovette and Pilgrim’s Pride. Lovette now heads the Virginia-based spice company C.F. Sauer.

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