StarKist brand canned tuna. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALMPittsburgh-Based StarKist Agrees to $20.5M Accord With Walmart Over 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
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
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.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Passenger Sues Frontier Airlines for Burns Sustained From In-Flight Beverage
3 minute read
Kraft Heinz Hires GC of Industrial Manufacturer as Legal Chief
Kraft Heinz Legal Chief Says She Quit Because Job Was Too Far From NYC Home
Trending Stories
- 1Regulatory Upheaval Is Coming. How Businesses Prepare and Respond Will Separate Winners and Losers
- 2Cravath Elevates 7 to Partnership, Up From Last Year
- 3Kline & Specter Hit With Lawsuit From Another Former Associate
- 4USPTO Director Kathi Vidal Announces Resignation Ahead of Administration Change
- 5As Gen AI Acceptance Grows, Lawyers Race to Mitigate Risks
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
