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Tyson Foods to pay Washington $10.5M in chicken price-fixing settlement

SEATTLE — The nation’s largest chicken producer will pay Washington $10.5 million as part of a settlement in a price-fixing scheme.

The lawsuit against Tyson Foods is the third from Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who has sued 19 broiler chicken producers in total.

Tyson Foods and the 18 other chicken producers have driven up the price of chicken since at least 2008, according to the attorney general’s office.

Ferguson says the price fixing affected an estimated 90% of Washingtonians, or approximately 7 million individuals.

“These corporate executives make more money than most Washingtonians can imagine, yet they decided to cheat those hardworking Washington families in order to satisfy their greed,” Ferguson said. “We will do everything in our power to make Washingtonians whole for the harm done to them by this price-rigging conspiracy.”

As part of the court order, Tyson Foods will now conduct internal training and certify that it has corporate policies that ensure the company follows state and federal antitrust laws.

Alaska and New Mexico also have similar antitrust cases pending against national chicken producers.

The attorney general’s office says it is now working on a plan to distribute the funds to Washington residents, once the remaining lawsuits are settled.