1 Dennis R.

Bunker
Carolyn D. Wulfsberg
2 Antitrust Division
Department of Justice
3 3101 Federal Building
••
300 North Los Angeles Street
4 Los Angeles, California 90012
Telephone: (213) 688-2514

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10

11 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

12 Plaintiff,
13 V .
14 ACME MEAT COMPANY; Civil No. 78-1436-RMT(TX)
BRISTOL FOODS, INCORPORATED,
15 1 d/b/a GOLD PAK MEAT COMPANY; Filed: April 13, 1978
'DELTA MEAT PACKING COMPANY;
16 FEDERAL MEAT COMPANY; p
GEM PACKING COMPANY; 15 U.S.C. S 1 (Sherman
17 GLOBE PACKING COMPANY; Antitrust Act)
GREAT WESTERN PACKING COMPANY;
18 MEAT PACKERS, INCORPORATED; CONSPIRACY IN RESTRAINT OF
19 I O.K. MEAT PACKING COMPANY; INTERSTATE TRADE AND COMMERCE:
QUALITY MEAT PACKING COMPANY; EQUITABLE RELIEF SOUGHT
SERV-U MEAT PACKING COMPANY;
20 SHAMROCK MEATS, INCORPORATED;
UNION PACKING COMPANY; and
21 WARD FOODS, INCORPORATED,
22 Defendants.
23

24 COMPLAINT
25 The United States of America, plaintiff, by its attorneys,
26 acting under the direction of the Attorney General of the United
27 States, brings this action to obtain equitable relief against the
28 above-named defendants, and complains and alleges as follows:

Form OBD-183
12-8-78 Doi
 2 JURISDICTION AND VENUE

3 1. This complaint is filed and this action is instituted under

Section 4 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. S 4), in order to prevent the

5 continuing violation or the reoccurrence thereof by the defendants,

as hereinafter alleged, of Section 1 of said Act (15 U.S.C. § 1).

2. Each of the defendants maintains an office, transacts

business and is found within the Central District of California.
II

10 DEFINITIONS

11 3. As used herein, the term:

12 (a) "Meat packer" means a business entity which slaughters

13 cattle (or has cattle slaughtered for it by a third

14 party) and dresses and sells such slaughtered

15 cattle as beef products, such as dressed beef,

16 primal cuts, fabricated meat or finished meat

17 products;

18 (b) "Carcass beef" means slaughtered beef which has

19 been dressed and not processed into primal or

20 sub-primal cuts or otherwise further processed;

21 (c) "Feed lot" means a business entity which feeds

22 and retains cattle in order to allow such cattle

23 to mature in age and weight for the purpose of

24 slaughtering; and

25 (d) "Los Angeles Area" means the geographic area

26 comprising the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange,

27 Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa

23 Barbara, California.

orm 013D-183
O 7 a INe.,
2 1
 III

2 THE DEFENDANTS

3 4. Each of the corporations named below in this paragraph is

hereby made a defendant herein. Each of said defendants is

5 incorporated and exists under the laws of the state listed

opposite its name, with its principal place of business in the
city listed. During all or part of the period of time covered by
this complaint, each of said corporations operated as a meat packer

9 in the Los Angeles Area.

10 State of Principal Place

Name of Corporation Incorporation of Business
11
Acme Meat Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA
12
Bristol Foods, Incorporated
13 d/b/a Gold Pak Meat Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

14 Delta Meat Packing Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

15 Federal Meat Company • California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

16 Gem Meat Packing Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

17 Globe Packing Company California San Fernando, CA

18 Great Western Packing Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA
19 O.K. Meat Packing Company California South Gate, CA

20 Quality Meat Packing Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

21 Serv-U Meat Packing Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

22 Shamrock Meats, Incorporated California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA

23 Union Packing Company California Los Angeles (Vernon), CA
24 Ward Foods, Incorporated New York Wilmette, IL
25 5. During all or part of the period of time covered by this
26 complaint, defendant Ward Foods, Incorporated operated as a meat
27 packer in the Los Angeles Area through its division Gold Ring Meats
28

08D183 •
 Division of Ward Foods, whose principal place of business is in

2 Los Angeles (Vernon), California.

3 6. Meat Packers, Incorporated, is hereby made a defendant

4 herein. Meat Packers,- Incorporated is a non-profit corporation

5 organized and existing under the laws of the State of California,

6 with its principal place of business in Los Angeles (Vernon),

7 California. During an or part of the period of time covered by

this complaint, Meat Packers, Incorporated, operated as a trade
association for meat packers in the Los Angeles Area.

10 IV
11 CO-CONSPIRATORS
12 7. Various individuals and companies not made defendants in
13 this complaint have participated as co-conspirators in the violation

14 hereafter alleged and have performed acts and made statements in

15 furtherance thereof.
16 V
17 TRADE AND COMMERCE

18 8. During the period of time covered by this complaint, a

19 substantial volume of the cattle, which were slaughtered and

20 eventually sold as carcass beef in the Los Angeles Area by the

21 corporate defendants, were purchased from feed lots located in
22 the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Texas, and were shipped
23 in interstate commerce from such feed lots to corporate defendants'
24 plants located in the State of California. A substantial volume
25 of the cattle purchased by the corporate defendants from feed
26 lots located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho
27 and Texas were shipped in interstate commerce from the states in
28

m OBD-183
3•-76 DOJ
 which such cattle were born to the states in which such feed lots
•

2 were located.

3 9. During the period of time covered by this complaint,

the defendants were the principal meat packers located in the

5 Los Angeles Area. The principal customers to whom they sold carcass
6 beef, were chain and independent retail grocery stores, food

7 wholesalers, and government installations. Such customers also

satisfy some of their requirements for beef products by purchasing

9 carcass beef and other forms of beef from meat packers located
10 outside the State of California and then shipping such products
11 in interstate commerce into the State of California directly to
12 said customers.
13 10. In 1976, the defendants had total sales of approximately
14 $827 million, including approximately $277 million in the sales
15 of carcass beef.
16 11. During the period of time covered by this complaint, the
17 sale of carcass beef by'each of the defendants was within the
18 flow of and substantially affected the above-described interstate
19 commerce.
20 VI
21 VIOLATION ALLEGED
22 12. Beginning at least as early as 1965, the exact date being
23 unknown to the plaintiff, and continuing thereafter into at least
24 1974, the defendants and co-conspirators entered into and have
25 engaged in an unlawful combination and conspiracy to restrain
26 the aforesaid interstate commerce in violation of Section 1 of
•

27 the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. S 1). This violation may continue or
28 recur unless the relief hereinafter prayed for is granted.

l'orm
_ 080-183
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 1 13. The aforesaid combination and conspiracy has consisted of
•

2 an agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the

3 defendants and co-cbnspirators to fix, raise and stabilize the

4 selling price of carcass beef sold to their customers in the

5 Los Angeles Area.

14. For the purpose of forming and effectuating the aforesaid
combination and conspiracy, the defendants and co-conspirators have

8 done those things which they combined and conspired to do.

VII

10 EFFECTS

11 15. The aforesaid combination and conspiracy has had the

12 following effects, among others:

13 (a) price competition in the sale of carcass beef in

14 the Los Angeles Area has been restrained;

15 (b) customers in the Los Angeles Area of the defendants

16 purchasing carcass beef have been deprived of the

17 opportunity to purchase carcass beef in an open

18 and competitive market;

19 (c) prices for carcass beef sold to customers of the

20 defendants in the Los Angeles Area have been

21 artificially increased and stabilized; and
22 (d) the above described flow of interstate commerce
23 and trade has been adversely restrained.
24 PRAYER
25 WHEREFORE, plaintiff prays:
26 1. That the Court adjudge and decree that the defendants,
27 and each of them, have engaged in an unlawful combination and
28 conspiracy in unreasonable restraint of the aforesaid interstate

orm 091) -183

2-8-78 Doi A 1
 1 trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
2. That each of the defendant meat packers, its successors,
3 assigns, subsidiaries'and transferees, and the respective officers,
4 directors, agents, and employees thereof, and all other persons
5 acting or claiming to act on behalf thereof, be perpetually
6 enjoined and restrained from, in any manner, directly or indirectly,
7 continuing, maintaining, renewing, or reviving the aforesaid
illegal combination and conspiracy, and from engaging in any other
9 combination, conspiracy, agreement, understanding, or concert
10 of action having a similar purpose or effect and from adopting
11 or following any practice,- plan, program, or device having a
12 similar purpose or effect.
13 3. That defendant Meat Packers, Incorporated, its successors,
14 assigns, subsidiaries and transferees, and the respective officers,
15 directors, agents, and employees thereof, and all other persons
16 acting or claiming to act on behalf thereof, be perpetually
17 enjoined and restrained from, in any manner, directly or indirectly,
18 adopting or following any practice, plan, program, or device which
19 has the purpose or effect of allowing or promoting discussions,
20 exchanges or communications, in any form, of prices of
21 carcass beef among the defendant meat packers.
22 4. That plaintiff have such: other, further and different
23 relief as the Court may deem just and proper.
24 I.MCMOMMO M

25

26

27 W11..0100M.C.

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Form OBD-183
 1 5. That the plaintiff recover the costs of this suit.
Dated:

3
N (1 1-cc .
Akt,tx
JOHN H. SHENEFIELD DENNIS R. BUNKER
5 AssIsant Attorney Geniiral

RICHARD J. ONRETTO CAROLYN D. WULFSBERG

Attorneys, Attorneys,
Department of Justice Department of Justice

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ANDREA S. ORDIN
12 United States Attorney

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rrn 080-183 DOj-1978-04

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