Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch Reach Proposed Class Action Settlement In Class Action Lawsuit Over Egg Price Fixing

Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch Settle Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Conspiracy To Fix Prices Of  Shell Eggs & Egg Products.

A proposed class action settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit pending against Land O’ Lakes, Inc., Moark, LLC, Norco Ranch, Inc. (collectively the “settling Defendants” or “Land O’ Lakes”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (styled In re: Processed Egg Products Antitrust Litigation, Case 2:08-md-02002-GP; MDL No. 2002) alleging that Moark, Land O’ Lakes, Norco Ranch, Sparboe, certain Non-Settling Defendants (such as Cal Maine Foods, Inc., Michael Foods, Inc., Ohio Fresh Eggs, United Egg Producers and Rose Acre Farms, Inc., etc.) and other unnamed co-conspirators violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., by engaging in an unlawful conspiracy to reduce output and thereby artificially fix, raise, maintain and/or stabilize the prices of shell eggs (table eggs and breaking eggs) and egg products (breaking eggs that have been removed from their shells and processed into dried, frozen or liquid forms), according to a class action settlement news report.

The Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch shell egg & egg products price fixing class action lawsuit complaint reportedly alleged that Defendants conspired to fix, stabilize and/or maintain egg prices in the following ways:

• agreeing to reduce the total number of hens at laying farms in order to decrease overall egg production;
• agreeing not to replace hens lost through increased cage space requirements;
• agreeing to manipulate the molting, culling, and disposal of hens to keep egg production low;
• agreeing not to “backfill” cages;
• agreeing to delay or reduce chick hatching;
• agreeing to reduce inventory;
• agreeing not to expand or to curtail operations;
• agreeing to export eggs to restrain output in the United States; and
• agreeing overall to manage supply and reduce output of eggs in the United States.

Under the proposed class action settlement, Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch have agreed to pay $25,000,000 into a settlement fund to provide for the claims of members of the proposed Settlement Class, which settlement funds will be maintained in an escrow account pending approval of the class action settlement by the Court.

The Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch shell egg & egg products price fixing class action settlement agreement reportedly provides that Settlement Class members will include, subject to court approval, the following persons, unless otherwise excluded:

All persons and entities that purchased eggs, including Shell Eggs and Egg Products, produced from caged birds in the United States directly from any Producer, including any Defendant, during the Class Period from January 1, 2000 through the date when notice of the Court’s entry of an order preliminarily approving this settlement and certifying a Class for settlement purposes is first published.

Shell Egg SubClass

All individuals and entities that purchased Shell Eggs produced from caged birds in the United States directly from any Producer including any Defendant, during the Class Period from January 1, 2000 through the date when notice of the Court’s entry of an order preliminarily approving this settlement and certifying a Class for settlement purposes is first published, excluding individuals and entities that purchased only “specialty” Shell Eggs (certified organic, nutritionally enhanced, cage-free, free-range, and vegetarian-fed types) and “hatching” Shell Eggs (used by poultry breeders to produce breeder stock or growing stock for laying hens or meat).

Egg Products SubClass

All individuals and entities that purchased Egg Products produced from Shell Eggs that came from caged birds in the United States directly from any Producer, including any Defendant, during the Class Period from January 1, 2000 through the date when notice of the Court’s entry of an order preliminarily approving this settlement and certifying a Class for settlement purposes is first published, excluding individuals and entities that purchased only “specialty” Egg Products (certified organic, nutritionally enhanced, cage-free, free-range, and vegetarian-fed types).

In addition to the proposed settlement payments, the class action settlement agreement also reportedly requires, via a “Cooperation Provision,” that Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch, among other things, produce documents related to Plaintiffs’ allegations in the class action complaint and make witnesses available for informal interviews, depositions and trial against the other defendants who have not settled and who will remain in the litigation.

If You Have Thoughts On The Land O’Lakes, Moark and Norco Ranch Shell Egg & Egg Products Price Fixing Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, Share Your Settlement Comments Below.