Beef and Pork Processing Worker Settlement: Who Qualifies and How to Claim

The Class generally covers people who worked at any Defendant’s beef or pork processing plant in the United States from January 1, 2000, through February 27, 2024. A person did not have to work for the entire period.

There is also a smaller Subclass for people who worked during the period beginning January 1, 2014. Subclass members are eligible for the main Class payment and may also be eligible for money from two additional settlements.

The notice does not give a fixed payment amount. Payments will be divided proportionally among eligible Class and Subclass members.

The main Class is eligible for settlements totaling $191.55 million. Eligible Subclass members may receive a share of an additional $11.25 million. An individual payment depends on the number of eligible people, work time, earnings, and Court-approved deductions from the settlement money.

If you received a postcard or email notice, the notice says you will get money if you remain in the Class. You should update your contact, employment, and earnings information so the payment can be calculated and delivered correctly.

If you did not receive a postcard or email notice, you must submit a participation form online or by mail. It must be submitted online or postmarked by March 26, 2027, and payment depends on approval of the form.

The notice does not say that every person must submit documents with a payment request. However, the Settlement Administrator can ask a Class Member or someone seeking to participate for additional documents.

If documents are requested and not provided, the person may not be allowed to participate. The notice does not identify which documents might be requested.

The $202.8 million settlement total is not the amount that will be divided without deductions. The notice says money will first be used for Court-approved attorneys’ fees, lawsuit costs, notice and administration costs, and possible awards to the Class Representatives.

Payments are treated as wages. Payroll taxes that must be withheld will be taken from the payment, and the payment may be reported on an IRS Form W-2.

There is no payment date yet. Payment can happen only after the Court approves the settlements and any appeals have ended. The notice says that process can take time.

You may leave one settlement, several settlements, or all settlements. If you opt out of a settlement, you cannot receive money from that settlement and cannot object to it. Opting out is necessary if you want to bring your own claim against that Defendant about the claims in this case.

To opt out, mail a signed letter by September 29, 2026. The letter needs your name, address, notice ID if you have one, and a statement identifying all settlements or the particular Defendants’ settlements you are leaving.

If you stay in the Class, you may receive settlement money, but you give up the claims made in this case and claims that could have been made in it. In practical terms, you cannot bring your own lawsuit against the Defendants for those same claims.

The same release applies to people who remain in the Subclass.

September 29, 2026 is the deadline to mail an opt-out request or an objection. It is not the participation-form deadline, which is March 26, 2027 for workers who did not receive a postcard or email notice.

An objection must be mailed to both the court and the settlement administrator with the information listed in Question 26 of the notice. Opt-out requests go to the separate address listed in Question 23.

The court is scheduled to consider the settlements on November 13, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom A701 of the federal courthouse in Denver. Class members do not have to attend. Check the official website because the judge may change the date or time.

No. The notice says the case will continue against Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Smithfield Packaged Meats Corporation. The listed settlements resolve claims against the settling defendants only.

Agri Stats also agreed to change its pork-processing reports, including removing certain information, in addition to providing cooperation rather than a cash payment.