Chicken settlement: Anyone who bought chicken over last decade could get payment

If you have purchased chicken over the past 10 years, you may be able to get your cut of a legal settlement.

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Tyson Foods is among the companies that have reached a $181 million settlement in a class-action antitrust lawsuit, according to the settlement announcement.

The suit alleged that the companies “conspired to stabilize the price and supply of chicken” and were in violation of antitrust laws.

The settlement agreement does not mean the companies involved admitted to the allegations, but agreed to settle “to avoid the further expense, inconvenience, disruption and burden of this litigation and any other present or future litigation arising out of the facts that gave rise to this litigation.”

In the agreement, anyone who had purchased fresh or frozen raw chicken could get a piece of the settlement.

The chicken could be a whole chicken, cut-up chickens, white meat selections. The settlement excludes chicken that was marketed as halal, kosher, free-range or organic, according to the announcement.

The chicken must have been purchased in the following states or territories from July 1, 2009, through July 31, 2019:

• California
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oregon
• Rhode Island (after July 15, 2013)
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Wisconsin

The date for some purchases, depending on the brand and location, is extended to Dec. 31, 2020.

For more information and to see if you qualify for the payment, click here.

The deadline to apply for a claim is Dec. 31, 2022. If you don’t want to be legally connected to the settlement, then you have to be excluded by Nov. 10.

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