A federal judge in Minnesota has given final approval to Tyson Foods' $48 million settlement with businesses that bought pork indirectly, resolving one more group of claims in the long-running pork price-fixing case, legal publisher VitalLaw reported Oct. 9.
The settlement covers the class of commercial and institutional indirect purchasers, buyers such as businesses and institutions that obtained pork through distributors or other middlemen rather than from processors. With final approval, the court dismissed that class's claims against Tyson with prejudice, according to the report.
Tyson signed the agreement with the class on Dec. 31, 2025, and the court granted preliminary approval on April 24, 2026, according to the company's most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The case, In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, began in June 2018, when a series of class-action complaints were filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against Tyson, several of its pork subsidiaries and other pork processors. The plaintiffs allege the companies conspired starting in January 2009 to fix and stabilize pork prices in violation of federal antitrust law. Tyson has said it believes it has valid defenses and has settled to avoid the risk and expense of prolonged litigation.
The company has resolved other groups of claims in the same case. Its SEC filing lists a $50 million agreement with the direct purchaser class reached in April 2025 and an $85 million agreement with the consumer indirect purchaser class reached in September 2025. Tyson reported that its legal reserve for the pork litigation stood at $83 million as of June 27, 2026.
