Attorney General Ferguson announced the resolution of his antitrust lawsuit against the final defendants in a conspiracy to artificially raise chicken prices for Washington families. The remaining three defendants—House of Raeford Farms, Wayne-Sanderson Farms, and Foster Farms—will pay $2.2 million, pending court approval. This brings the total recovery from Ferguson’s broiler chicken price-fixing case involving 19 defendants to $37.7 million.
"The corporations involved in these conspiracies cheated in order to increase their profits – and they harmed families in the process," Ferguson stated. "We did what we set out to do — hold these corporations accountable for their greed, restore a level playing field that allows all businesses to thrive, and get money back to Washingtonians most harmed."
In December 2023, Ferguson announced that $35.5 million from this case and $5.1 million from a similar tuna price-fixing case would be returned to affected consumers. Following a claims process that closed on June 5, approximately $30 million has been distributed to Washingtonians, with remaining claims still being processed.
The remaining funds will support future antitrust work, including challenging the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons. The Attorney General's Antitrust Division is entirely funded by successful case outcomes.
As part of the resolutions, the 19 companies named in the original lawsuit have entered into legally binding agreements to conduct internal training and certify compliance with state and federal antitrust laws. If any engage in price-fixing or other anticompetitive conduct within five years, the Attorney General’s Office can seek civil penalties.
In December 2023, checks were mailed as restitution from resolutions with chicken and tuna companies sued for similar price-fixing conspiracies. Initially, checks of $50 or $120 were sent directly to households with incomes at or below 175% of the federal poverty level. Additional restitution was available through a claims process.
By July 4, 274,595 households had cashed checks totaling approximately $27 million. An additional 28,530 claims checks were issued; so far, 15,709 have been cashed for a total of $1,591,860.
The deadline for claims passed on June 5; verification continues for additional last-minute claims.
Ferguson’s 2021 lawsuit named Wayne Farms and Sanderson Farms as separate entities before their merger. The broiler chickens involved account for about 95% of those sold in the U.S., affecting around seven million Washingtonians who purchase products derived from these chickens.
The investigation revealed coordinated efforts across the industry to restrain production through exchanges of competitively sensitive information and direct coordination among industry players—a violation of Washington state antitrust laws.
Assistant Attorneys General Travis Kennedy, Christina Black, Brooke Howlett Lovrovich, Holly Williams, Tyler Arnold, Susana Croke, Rose Duffy and Lucy Wolf; paralegals Tracy Jacoby, Kimberly Hitchcock, Michelle Oliver and Kate Iiams; legal assistants Grace Monastrial Keriann Snider Debbie Chase handled this case for Washington.
The Attorney General’s Antitrust Division enforces antitrust provisions under Washington's Unfair Business Practices-Consumer Protection Act by investigating complaints of anticompetitive conduct and reviewing potentially anticompetitive mergers.
For more information about filing an antitrust complaint visit https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/AntitrustComplaint.aspx
Washington’s Attorney General serves both people and state agencies by enforcing consumer protection laws among others while prosecuting elder abuse Medicaid fraud sexually violent predator cases across nearly all counties in Washington.