SEATTLE, March 28, 2023 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — A lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The lawsuit is known as In Re: Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, No. 15-MD-2670 DMS (MDD). The lawsuit claims that from June 1, 2011 to July 1, 2015, Defendants Tri-Union Seafoods LLC d/b/a Chicken of the Sea International and Thai Union Group PCL (collectively “COSI”), StarKist Co. and its parent company, Dongwon Industries Co. Ltd (collectively “StarKist”), and Bumble Bee Foods, LLC (“Bumble Bee”), Lion Capital LLP (“Lion Capital”), Lion Capital (Americas), Inc. (“Lion America“), and Big Catch Cayman LP (“Big Catch”) participated in an unlawful conspiracy to raise, fix, maintain, or stabilize the price of Packaged Tuna products at an artificially high level in violation of antitrust and unfair competition laws.
Who is affected? On July 30, 2019, the District Court certified a class of all persons and entities who reside in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (referred to as the “End Payer Plaintiffs” or “EPPs”) who indirectly purchased Chicken of the Sea, StarKist, or Bumble Bee tuna in cans or pouches smaller than 40 ounces (“Packaged Tuna”) from June 1, 2011 through July 1, 2015 for their own consumption (the “Class”). On April 8, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s order certifying the Class. On November 14, 2022, the United States Supreme Court denied StarKist’s petition to appeal the Ninth Circuit’s order. The certified Class may now proceed to trial.
What happens next? The Court has not decided whether Defendants did anything wrong. Defendants deny the EPPs’ allegations and have asserted defenses to the EPPs’ claims. COSI settled with the EPPs to avoid litigation risks, costs, and inconvenience. Notice about the COSI Settlement was already issued, and the claims deadline for the COSI Settlement has passed. Bumble Bee filed for bankruptcy protection. The litigation is continuing with StarKist, Lion Capital, Lion America, and Big Catch (the “Non-Settling Defendants”). The Court has indicated that it intends to set dates for the trial in the near future. Payments for the COSI Settlement will be distributed after the trial with Non-Settling Defendants. The Court appointed the law firm of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP as Class Counsel on behalf of the EPP Plaintiffs and Class Members. At trial, Class Counsel will present the case for the EPPs, and lawyers for the Non-Settling Defendants will present on the Non-Settling Defendants’ behalf. However, you or your own lawyer are welcome to come at your own expense.
What are my options? You can do nothing or ask to exclude yourself (“opt out”) of the Class. If you do nothing, you will stay in the Class and await the outcome. You will give up your right to sue or continue to sue the Defendants for the claims in this case. If you filed a valid and timely claim in the COSI Settlement, your payment will be distributed AFTER the litigation with the Non-Settling Defendants is resolved. Please be patient. If you ask to be excluded, you will remove yourself from the Class. You will keep your right to sue or continue to sue the Non-Settling Defendants for the claims in this case. You will receive no payment in the COSI Settlement or from any recovery that the Class may receive from the Non-Settling Defendants in the future. If you already filed a claim in the COSI Settlement and you would now like to opt out of the Class, you must contact the Claims Administrator to withdraw your COSI Settlement claim. If you already opted out of the COSI Settlement, you do not need to file another opt-out.
The deadline to exclude yourself from the Class is July 17, 2023. Go to www.TunaEndPurchaserSettlement for information on how to exclude yourself from the Class.
Questions? Visit www.TunaEndPurchaserSettlement.com , write Tuna End Purchaser Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91442 , Seattle, WA 98111, email info@TunaEndPurchaserSettlement.com, or call toll-free 1-866-615-0977.
PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT.
SOURCE JND Legal Administration
