In a significant legal move, McDonald’s has filed a lawsuit against several leading beef producers, including JBS and Tyson Foods, accusing them of engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy that has driven up costs for the fast-food giant. The lawsuit was filed on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, and also names Cargill and National Beef Packing as defendants.
McDonald’s alleges that these meatpacking companies have colluded since 2015 to limit beef supplies, which has inflated prices and negatively impacted their business. The fast-food chain claims that the meatpackers collectively reduced their production levels to manipulate market prices, thereby increasing their profits at the expense of customers like McDonald’s.
In the lawsuit, McDonald’s stated, “Only colluding meatpackers would expect to benefit by reducing their prices and purchases of slaughtered cattle because they would know that their conspiracy would shield them from the dynamics of a competitive marketplace.”
As of Monday, JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef had not responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit. McDonald’s also refrained from commenting on the matter. The meat producers have consistently denied any wrongdoing in related antitrust cases, which are currently being consolidated in federal court in Minnesota. Other plaintiffs in those cases include major retailers such as BJ’s Wholesale, Sodexo, Target, and Aldi.
Additionally, the beef producers are facing lawsuits from U.S. consumers and cattle producers, many of whom are seeking class-action status and monetary damages related to the alleged price-fixing scheme. Cattle producers claim to have suffered significant financial losses, amounting to billions of dollars, due to the alleged collusion.
With a footprint of 13,000 restaurants across the United States and a total of 39,000 locations worldwide, McDonald’s is pursuing unspecified monetary damages in its lawsuit, along with a request for the court to put an end to the alleged price-fixing practices.
The coordinated legal proceedings regarding the beef antitrust allegations are being overseen by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis. In a previous case, JBS agreed to pay $52.5 million in 2022 to resolve some class-action claims from purchasers. The case is officially titled McDonald’s Corp v. Cargill et al, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, under case number 1:24-cv-07017-TAM.
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