US Foods has settled its lawsuit against Bumble Bee Foods over price-fixing allegations, according to court documents filed 25 February.
“Plaintiff US Foods, Inc. and Defendant Bumble Bee Foods, LLC have agreed to resolve Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant,” the document, filed in the United States Southern California District Court, said. “The parties stipulate and jointly move the Court to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant with prejudice. The parties shall bear their respective fees and costs. The parties also respectfully request that any documents filed under seal remain under seal.”
Terms of the deal were not released, and all sealed documents relating to the settlement will remain private, according to an order granting the motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed on 26 February by Judge Janis Sammartino, who is overseeing the case.
In a statement sent to SeafoodSource, US Foods Director of Media Relations Sara Matheu said the company does not comment on litigation.
The agreement represents the latest in a spate of settlements reached recently between the so-called Big Three tuna companies – Bumble Bee, StarKist, and Chicken of the Sea – and parties that claim they were injured by a price-fixing campaign they orchestrated, according to guilty pleas by Bumble Bee and StarKist. In 2017, Chicken of the Sea acknowledged it was the whistleblower in the case and therefore did not face criminal charges, but still has faced civil suits related to the scandal.
