DENVER — Hormel Foods Corp., Rochelle Foods LLC and Quality Pork Processors Inc. agreed on Aug. 21 to pay $13.5 million to settle all claims against them in a wage-fixing suit.

The class action lawsuit was first filed with the Colorado District Court in November 2022. The plaintiffs alleged processors conspired to “fix and depress the compensation paid to employees at red meat processing plants,” specifically from Jan. 1, 2014, to the present day of the filing. Each year during the class period, the processors, their subsidiaries and related entities collectively employed around 150,000 workers across 140 facilities, according to the complaint.

Allegedly, the processors monitored compensation data across the industry through secret surveys, secret annual meetings, direct communication among executives, reports through Agri Stats and no poach agreements.

With this recent agreement, Hormel and its related entities join several other meat processors who have reached a settlement. The agreement is subject to the court’s approval. The class plaintiffs said they plan to move for preliminary approval in the near future.

The defendants in the suit include Hormel, JBS USA, Tyson Foods, Cargill, American Foods Group, Triumph Foods, Seaboard Foods, National Beef Packing Co., Smithfield Foods, Agri Beef Co., Perdue Farms, Agri Stats, and Weber, Meng, Sahl and Co.