Did Poultry Processors Fix Worker Wages? $398.05 Million Class Settlement Receives Final Approval in 2025
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A sweeping worker class action accused many of the country’s largest poultry processors of secretly coordinating to keep compensation artificially low in an alleged wage-fixing scheme.
Case: Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms, Inc., et al.
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Case No.: SAG-19-2521 (also docketed as No. 1:19-cv-02521)
Final approval date: June 5, 2025
Total settlements approved: $398.05 million
Who Were the Parties in the Case?
The plaintiffs are a proposed class of non-supervisory poultry-industry workers (typically production and maintenance employees) who allege they were harmed by an industry-wide agreement that depressed wages and benefits for workers in their positions at poultry processing facilities. Perdue Farms, Inc. and other poultry processors were the defendants in the case, with the plaintiffs alleging they worked together to use a wage-suppression conspiracy to their financial advantage.
A Brief Run Down of the Case History:
The litigation began in 2019 in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Plaintiffs alleged that major poultry companies used shared wage data and coordinated practices to reduce competition for labor and minimize their own labor costs. This kept compensation below what a competitive market would have set and allegedly limited workers in the industry's ability to earn a fair wage.
The case stretched across several years, including amended pleadings, motion practice, and discovery. During this time, groups of defendants reached separate settlement agreements at various points. By late 2024/early 2025, additional settlements pushed the combined total close to $400M, with the recovery described in public reporting as one of the largest of its kind for worker antitrust claims.
The court granted final approval to the settlements totaling over $398 million on June 5, 2025, and certified the settlement class to distribute the recovery.
The Main Question the Court Considered in the Case: Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms, Inc., et al.
There was a fairly high-stakes question at the center of this case: Did poultry processors unlawfully conspire to suppress worker compensation by coordinating wages and benefits, rather than competing for workers? If the court determined the answer to be yes, the action was a violation of federal antitrust law.
What Were the Allegations Against the Poultry Farms?
The workers alleged that participating companies shared sensitive compensation information and used it to align pay practices across the industry, reducing normal competitive pressure that would otherwise increase wages.
Unlike a typical overtime or off-the-clock lawsuit, the theory here was not that workers were denied overtime premiums under wage-and-hour statutes. Instead, the allegation was that an anti-competitive agreement distorted the labor market, leading to lower pay rates than they should have been for the work performed.
Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms, Inc., et al.: Settlement Outcome
The Maryland federal court granted final approval to settlements totaling just over $398 million, making it a Landmark Worker-Pay Settlement in 2025 for three practical reasons:
1. The size of the recovery. A $398.05 million class settlement is extraordinary in worker-pay litigation, even before considering the number of potentially eligible workers nationwide.
2. It targets wage-fixing directly. The case reflects an ongoing trend of using antitrust law to challenge alleged wage suppression, treating workers as participants in a competitive market that the law protects from collusion.
3. Industry-wide impact. The allegations and settlements involved multiple major processors across the poultry sector, making the litigation a major event for how large employers manage compensation benchmarking and information sharing.
FAQ: Jien, et al. v. Perdue Farms, Inc., et al.
Q: What’s the difference between “wage-fixing” and an overtime violation?
A: Overtime cases typically allege violations of wage-and-hour statutes (like the FLSA). Wage-fixing cases generally allege an anti-competitive agreement that suppresses wages; an antitrust theory focused on market competition.
Q: Who could be included in the settlement class in this case?
A: The settlement described the class as non-supervisory workers employed at poultry processing operations and related facilities during a certain time period (subject to the class definitions approved by the court).
Q: For a class action, what does “final approval” mean?
A: Final approval means the court has reviewed the class action settlement’s terms and concluded it is legally acceptable under current standards. Final approval clears the way for administration and payments.
Q: How are settlement payments typically calculated for this type of case/settlement?
A: Payment formulas commonly consider factors like how long a person worked during the class period and compensation-related information, with payments made on a pro rata basis under the plan approved by the court.
If you believe your employer kept your pay unlawfully low, failed to pay you all wages owed, or engaged in practices that shortchanged workers, the employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP can help you understand your options. Contact the firm’s offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, or Chicago to discuss potential wage-and-hour or related worker-protection claims.
