The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California has approved settlement agreements between plaintiffs StarKist and Bumble Bee in lawsuits related to alleged price-fixing of canned tuna.
End-payer and direct-purchaser plaintiffs sued Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee, and StarKist in the U.S. for their alleged connections to a price-fixing scheme for canned tuna.
The civil lawsuit came alongside multiple tuna companies being indicted on federal price-fixing charges that ultimately led to former Bumble Bee President and CEO Chris Lischewski being sentenced to 40 months in prison and millions of dollars in fines against StarKist and Bumble Bee.
Alongside the criminal lawsuit, a class-action suit targeted Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee, and StarKist, as well as their parent companies, for a total of up to USD 1 billion (EUR 954 million) in damages.
In 2019, a judge presiding over the case approved four separate tracks for the lawsuit, and in 2023, Chicken of the Sea and its parent company Thai Union agreed to pay USD 13 million (EUR 12.4 million) to settle the direct purchaser lawsuit, plus an additional USD 5.95 million (EUR 5.6 million) for legal fees and a maximum settlement of USD 20 million (EUR 19 million) to the end-payer plaintiffs – including USD 5 million (EUR 4.7 million) to cover legal fees. That total, according to recent court documents, ended up reaching USD 16.2 million (EUR 15.4 million).
Bumble Bee and its former owner Lion Capital, along with StarKist and its owner Dongwon Industries, also agreed to settle the case, as first revealed in a 25 June 2024 filing. At the time, the exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but later filings in August revealed over USD 200 million (EUR 190 million) in settlements.
Now, U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw has granted final approval on the settlements between both the end-payer plaintiffs and direct-purchaser plaintiffs and the tuna companies and, in doing so, also determined the fees the attorneys obtained.
“The court hereby grants final approval of the settlements as set forth in the settlement agreements on the basis that the settlements are fair, reasonable, and adequate and in the best interests of the settlement class,” Sabraw wrote in his decision.
According to orders granting end-payer plaintiffs’ and direct-purchase plaintiffs’ motions for final approval of the settlements – granted on 22 November 2024 – Sabraw approved attorneys’ requests for a combined USD 71 million (EUR 67.7 million) in fees.
Hausfield, representing the direct-purchaser plaintiffs, asked for USD 20.8 million (EUR 19.8) in attorney fees for the USD 64.7 million (EUR 61.7 million) in settlements it obtained for the plaintiffs from StarKist, Dongwon Industries, and Lion Capital. On top of that, the court awarded USD 1.29 million (EUR 1.23 million) for litigation expenses – which Judge Sabraw approved on 22 November.
The attorneys representing end-payer plaintiffs requested a total of USD 48.3 million (EUR 16.1 million) in attorney fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses of USD 1.6 million (EUR 1.5 million) – for a total of just under USD 50 million (EUR 47.7 million).
Both requests for attorney compensation were granted by the judge.
The fees will be paid via earlier deals that will see StarKist and Lion Capital pay a combined USD 136 million (EUR 129.8 million) in cash to end-payer plaintiffs, split into USD 130 million (EUR 124 million) from StarKist and USD 6 million (EUR 5.7 million) from Lion Capital. That total adds to a prior USD 16.2 million (EUR 15.4 million) settlement from Chicken of the Sea and Thai Union in 2023 to total USD 152.2 million (EUR 145.2 million) in cash for end-payer plaintiffs.
“The evidence reflects that defendants utilized their sophistication and commercial power to clandestinely communicate with their competitors and alter the markets in such a way that would have averted detection,” Sabraw wrote in his ruling in August.
For StarKist, Dongwon, and Bumble Bee, that total is in addition to the settlements granted to direct-purchaser plaintiffs, paid to companies including Olean Wholesale Grocery, Pacific Groservice, Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Co., Central Grocers, Trepco Imports and Distribution, and Benjamin Foods.
The direct-purchaser plaintiffs and StarKist agreed to settle the lawsuit for USD 32.65 million (EUR 31.18 million) in cash and USD 26.1 million (EUR 24.9 million) worth of StarKist products – for a total value of just under USD 58.75 million (EUR 56.1 million). In the same settlement, Bumble Bee’s former owner Lion Capital agreed to a USD 6 million (EUR 5.7 million) deal with the direct-purchaser plaintiffs.
All told, across the end-payer plaintiffs and the direct-purchaser plaintiffs, StarKist, Dongwon Industries, and Lion Capital have settled the price-fixing lawsuits for just under USD 217 million (EUR 207 million).
