Pilgrims Pride Corporation wins appeal

5th Circuit Court overturns $25 million in damages
From staff reports
The fifth district appellate court overturned an anti-competitive lawsuit against Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (PPC) this past Tuesday, citing Pilgrim’s Pride “did not engage in ‘unfair’ or ‘deceptive’ practices.”
One of the world’s largest chicken producers, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, will be the recipient of more than $25 million of overturned damages awarded to several contract poultry growers that accused the company of violating antitrust laws by trying to manipulate poultry prices.
A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said on Tuesday a federal magistrate judge erred in finding that Pilgrim’s Pride’s decision to idle a chicken processing plant in El Dorado, Arkansas, in May 2009 and end contracts with the growers was motivated by a desire to control prices.
The two-judge panel said the closure was “neither illegitimate nor anti-competitive” as the company reduced production to reduce loss in the commodity foods division.

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