Sorry, Charlie: Washington AG Ferguson sues StarKist for tuna price fixing
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, aggressive in consumer litigation, is suing packaged tuna manufacturer StarKist and a former Bumble Bee CEO for allegedly overcharging state consumers for more than a decade.
The civil suit, filed in King County Superior Court, alleges a price fixing conspiracy that drove up the cost of packaged tuna and cost state consumers more than $6 million. Washington is the first state to file a suit after federal discoveris of price fixing.
"We cannot have a free market when corporate titans are able to tip the scales to their own bank accounts: Washingtonians lost millions as a result of this corporate greed," Ferguson said in a statement. "I intend to get it back for them."
Under its suit, filed under Washington's Consumer Protection Act, the state asserts that StarKist Co., its corporate parent Dongwon, and ex-Bumble Bee CEO Christopher Lischeweski, undertook a price fixing conspiracy that lasted from 2004 to 2015. StarKist is a top manufacturer of packaged tuna, with a 40% market share.
https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Sorry-Charlie-AG-Ferguson-sues-StarKist-for-15314675.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headlines&utm_campaign=spi_itsintheseattlepi
