StarKist Agrees to $20.5M Settlement With Walmart Over Canned Tuna Price-Fixing Conspiracy
“StarKist is pleased to resolve this matter with our valued customer, Walmart," StarKist vice president and general counsel Scott Meece said.
January 28, 2019 at 05:39 PM
3 minute read
StarKist brand canned tuna. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
StarKist Co. has agreed to a settlement worth $20.5 million with Walmart Inc. to resolve antitrust claims related to a conspiracy with other canned tuna companies to fix prices on their products. StarKist pleaded guilty to the charge last October.
StarKist vice president and general counsel Scott Meece said in a statement, “StarKist is pleased to resolve this matter with our valued customer, Walmart. The resolution is a business-oriented and reasonable one, which sets a benchmark for resolving remaining matters with our other valued customers.”
A Walmart statement said, “We are pleased we were able to resolve this matter with StarKist.”
Although the Jan. 25 deal was confidential, StarKist said it involved a “combination of cash payment and certain favorable commercial terms.” Neither company would elaborate.
Pittsburgh-based StarKist noted in its statement that Walmart is the largest retailer for its canned tuna in the United States, making a deal with the retailer critical to settling the numerous suits filed by grocers across the country.
Other grocery retailers who joined in suits over the conspiracy include New York-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc., Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co., Idaho-based Albertsons Cos., Iowa-based Hy-Vee, Florida-based Publix Super Markets Inc., and Michigan-based Meijer Inc.
The civil suit by Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart was filed in 2016 in Arkansas against several seafood companies but transferred to the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California in November 2016 as part of a multidistrict litigation. The suit remains open against other companies. Walmart is represented by Jess Askew III of Kutak Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Another defendant in the suit, Chicken of the Sea International, part of San Diego-based Tri-Union Seafoods, settled with Walmart last May. Details of the deal were confidential, but the company said the settlement involved cash along with a series of programs and new product promotions in Walmart stores.
Last October, StarKist pleaded guilty to one felony count of price-fixing in collusion with the other two largest U.S. sellers of packaged seafood, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee Foods, also based in San Diego. StarKist was the last of the three to resolve the antitrust criminal claim with the Department of Justice.
The criminal case against StarKist, in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, remains open as the company cooperates with investigators looking into claims against others, including individuals. The company has not been sentenced yet and its plea deal has been sealed by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen.
StarKist is represented by Latham & Watkins in the criminal case. In 2017 Stephen Hodge, a former senior vice president of sales for StarKist, pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy.
Chicken of the Sea was granted conditional leniency in its criminal case because it acted as a whistleblower in the DOJ's investigation.
The third major company, Bumble Bee Foods, pleaded guilty in May 2017 and agreed to pay a $25 million fine.
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