MUSKOGEE, OKLA. — A federal judge in Oklahoma confirmed on June 25 that Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. reached a settlement with thousands of broiler chicken growers.

 The class action lawsuit was overseen by Judge Robert J. Shelby of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in May 2024.

In the latest notice, Shelby directed the parties to file a joint status report within 14 days regarding the finalization of a settlement agreement.

The court document stated that 24,354 growers are seeking payment for an alleged conspiracy to suppress their wages since at least 2008.

According to the plaintiffs’ documents, Pilgrim’s and its co-conspirators participated in a conspiracy using either a No-Poach Agreement (NPA) and/or an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA).

Pilgrim’s remains the only defendant in this case after other poultry businesses, including Tyson Foods Inc., Koch Foods and Perdue Foods, settled for millions of dollars over the last few years.

Tyson reached a $21 million settlement in the case back in 2021. It was reported that Perdue would pay $14.75 million.