Consumer Pork Price-Fixing Claims Move Toward Trial

On April 1, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim mostly denied Defendant pork producers’ efforts to avoid trial in a major antitrust case. This decision means that the Consumer Indirect Purchaser Plaintiffs (CIPPs), represented in a Co-Lead role by Gustafson Gluek PLLC, are one step closer to presenting their case to a jury later this year.  

The lawsuits, which started back in 2018, claim that some of the biggest pork producers in the country conspired to limit supply and keep prices high, working together through a company called Agri Stats. There are three groups of plaintiffs involved: direct buyers, commercial buyers, and everyday consumers (the CIPPs).  

After years of back-and-forth in court and a long discovery process, the defendants asked the judge to throw out the case before trial. The Court disagreed, denying most of their motions and ruling that important questions still need to be decided by a jury. To date, the CIPPs have reached settlements with JBS, Seaboard, Hormel and Smithfield for a total of $109,465,000 million.  

This major step forward wouldn’t be possible without the excellent work of Gustafson Gluek’s team serving as Co-Lead Counsel for the CIPP Class, including Dan Gustafson, Dan Hedlund, Michelle Looby, Josh Rissman, Abou Amara, and Emily Egart.