Domina Law Groupcompleted submission of Class Certification materials in January in class action litigation on behalf of cattle producers against Excel Meats, a Cargill subsidiary, and one of the nation’s three largest beef packers.
Cattle producers now have class actions pending against all three of the nation’s largest packers. In each case, producers assert that packers have violated 7 USC § 192, the provision of the Packers & Stockyards Act of 1921 designed to assure competitive, fair dealing between cattle producers and packers for the purchase and sale of cattle ready for slaughter.
Pickett v. IBP, Inc., the first of the three cases filed, is already certified as a national class action. Submissions against ConAgra, another of the "Big Three" were made in December.
Argument concerning class certification in the Excel and ConAgra cases is expected to occur during the early spring 2003.