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The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP is co-counsel in an antitrust class action filed in  2015 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, on behalf of Illinois-based Central Grocers, Inc. and purchasers of certain packaged seafood. The lawsuit alleges that in an effort to combat the prospect of diminishing profits as growth in the industry declined, the nation’s largest packaged seafood producers unlawfully conspired to form anti-competitive pricing, allocate customers, and restrict capacity in the United States packaged seafood market. Defendants include Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, Bee Seafoods, LLC, Tri-Union Seafoods, LLC, StarKist Company, and King Oscar, Inc., which together comprise approximately 85% of sales in the U.S. packaged seafood market.

Defendants’ unlawful acts, allegedly starting as early as January 1, 2000, have caused packaged seafood consumers in the U.S. to pay inflated prices for shelf-stable packaged seafood including tuna, clam, crab, mackerel, oysters, salmon, sardines, and shrimp.

The suit, In re Packaged Seafood Antitrust Litigation, seeks to recover damages and injunctive relief under Section 1 of the federal Sherman Act, and under Section 4 and 16 of the federal Clayton Act. It is ongoing and currently consolidated with similar cases in the United States District Court’s Southern District of California.

In July 2019, the Court granted class certification. On April 8, 2022, a en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a split decision affirming certification, ruling that the buyers' expert evidence and statistical model adequately established potential harm to consumers on a class-wide bases. On March 13, 2023, the Court granted in part and denied in part EPP's renewed motion for approval of the class notice plan.

For further information, please consult the case's settlement website.