Fort Smith, AR: (Mar-13-08) A class action lawsuit was filed against O.K. Industries Inc. of Fort Smith, by over 300 farmers, who claimed that the company violated the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921. The suit was brought against O.K. Industries poultry division, and O.K. Foods Inc., a privately held poultry company, which processes about 3 million chickens a week. The plaintiffs alleged that O.K. Foods used its buying power to exercise control over their farm upgrades, increase the days between flocks and reduce the number of birds per SF, causing millions of dollars in damages.
Sources report that the suit was brought mainly by broiler growers located in Le Flore County in eastern Oklahoma. The case was filed in 2002 and was heard in US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, where court records state that in 2005 a judge granted summary judgment to O.K. but a federal appeals court overturned that decision in 2007 and sent the case back to the Oklahoma District Court. In a recent development in the suit, an Oklahoma jury awarded $21 million to plaintiffs, resolving the class action lawsuit against the Fort Smith based company. [
