MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — Several pork pricing lawsuits dating back to 2018 were officially consolidated after a conditional transfer order was issued. On Dec. 27, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) issued the order that transferred the consolidated suits to Judge John Tunheim.
Tunheim signed an opinion and order back in November 2021 in support of consolidation, as he was overseeing an already consolidated litigation, In Re Pork Antitrust Litigation. “Consolidation will reduce the problems posed by having the cases on separate dockets while addressing both similar and identical issues on each docket,” the opinion and order said.
The recent JPML order will add Maximum Quality Foods Inc. v. Agri Stats Inc. et al into Tunheim’s ongoing litigation.
In September, Tunheim approved JBS USA’s $20 million settlement regarding a pork price fixing case.
Earlier in 2021, he approved an $83 million settlement with Smithfield Foods Inc. related to the ongoing pork litigation.
