BURLINGTON, Vt. — Attorneys representing some Northeast dairy farmers in a class-action antitrust lawsuit against a giant dairy processor and a dairy cooperative say the cooperative and its marketing affiliate are misleading dairy farmers about the merits of the case.
Under a proposed settlement announced in December, Dallas-based Dean Foods would pay $30 million to dairy farmers and change its milk-buying practices in the region for 30 months. The cooperative Dairy Farmers of America and its marketing affiliate, Dairy Marketing Services, both co-defendants in the suit, did not join the settlement, saying it favored one group of farms over another.
In court papers filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Vermont and obtained by The Associated Press, attorneys representing the dairy farmers asked a court to release documents that have been marked as confidential in the case. They also want court permission to send notices to thousands of dairy farmers about the settlement.
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