Owning one’s own business is rewarding and empowering. After all, being in charge of one’s own financial future can give one an incredible sense of freedom, both literally as one does not have a boss, and financially as one is not reliant on a company or boss for their financial wellbeing. However, running one’s business will mean that, at some point, their company will be involved in business litigation. This reality was highlighted recently by Chick-fil-A because they are currently sue their suppliers for an alleged price fixing scheme.
The Chick-fil-A litigation
The chicken chain is suing over a dozen chicken producers, including Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms, Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms, alleging the industry is engaged in illegal price fixing. Specifically, Chick-fil-A is alleging in federal court that the chicken producing industry is inflating prices on billions of dollars in inventory. In their filing, the company claims that the industry suppliers shared confidential pricing and bidding information with each other by text and phone. And, that this anticompetitive and illegal information sharing is illegal. Of course, the chicken industry companies named in the lawsuit deny the allegations.
Part of a bigger antitrust lawsuit
This new litigation is actually an escalation from a June indictment by the U.S. Justice Department of two executives at Pilgrim’s Pride on a price-fixing charge. Pilgrim’s Pride also recently settled federal price fixing charges with a $110.5 million settlement. In that settlement, it was alleged that their price fixing scheme caused higher costs to restaurants, supermarkets and, ultimately, consumers.
The takeaways
For Miami, Florida, businesses, the key takeaway from this case is that business litigation and contract litigation is likely an inevitability for all businesses, at least for those that are in business for any significant length of time. Though, local attorneys are here to help, and choosing the right attorney can save business owners thousands.
