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Tyson Foods Inc., the leading U.S. chicken producer, said it is cooperating in a Justice Department price-fixing investigation under a leniency program that will allow the company to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for aiding in the continuing probe of other poultry suppliers.
After receiving a grand jury subpoena in April 2019, Tyson TSN, -3.34% discovered that some of its employees were implicated in the alleged scheme. The company said it approached the Justice Department, disclosing its own actions and seeking leniency.
“Tyson took appropriate actions to address the internal issues and has been fully cooperating with the DOJ as part of its application for leniency under the DOJ’s Corporate Leniency Program,” Tyson said in a statement provided to The Wall Street Journal.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Tyson’s public acknowledgment of its role in the investigation comes a week after four chicken-industry executives, including employees of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. PPC, -1.92% and Claxton Poultry Farms, were indicted on charges of price fixing and bid rigging. The Justice Department alleged chicken company executives and employees for years exchanged details of their own pricing and that of competitors via phone calls and text messages, at the same time that they were negotiating supply deals with restaurants.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com:
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