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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A class action lawsuit against the nation's largest meat packer will go to trial Jan. 12 in federal court here in Birmingham. What started as a few cattlemen alleging unfair and deceptive practices against IBP eight years ago has grown into a class action lawsuit including some 31,000 ranchers and more than 4,000 feedyards. IBP has since been bought by Tyson Foods. The cattlemen claim that IBP, now Tyson, used its dominant place in the market to manipulate prices. The cattlemen are accusing IBP of fixing prices and trying to corner the cattle trade. Suing under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, the cattlemen claim the packer violated the law by using unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practices or devices; manipulating or controlling prices; creating a monopoly in cattle acquisition; or restraining commerce in cattle. The Associated Press quotes Tyson official Gary Mickelson as saying that fluctuating market prices are the result of supply and demand and would have occurred regardless of IBP's captive supply. The cattlemen's lawyer, Dave Domina, of Omaha, Neb., says producers were cheated out of a fair price from 1994 to 2002 by IBP's massive bargaining power. |
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