3 of 4 sued berry processors strike deal

Three of Maine’s four largest wild blueberry processing companies that were sued last year by the state’s growers in a class-action lawsuit for fixing prices paid to growers have reached settlements.

They are ready for those settlements to be approved by the courts. A date for the hearing has been set for May 14.

A fourth processor, Allen’s Blueberry Freezer of Ellsworth, which has failed to reach a settlement for its liability in the $56 million decision, intends to object to the three other companies gaining approval for their agreements.

“That’s a disappointment,” William Robitzek, the Lewiston attorney who represents Maine’s estimated 500 growers, said on Wednesday.

Justice Joseph Jabar, the justice who presided over the two-week civil trial in Knox County Superior Court last fall, will consider the settlements on May 14.

But Allen’s, the lone holdout in the case, doesn’t want even that much to happen.

“We are going to file our objection on Friday,” said Jeff Thaler, a Portland attorney representing Allen’s. “Our reasoning will be on file then. We will not disclose it in advance.”

The scheduling of the hearing is the latest development in the case that brought two of the processors to the brink of bankruptcy and threatened to disrupt the industry, a mainstay of the Down East economy.

Starting with four original plaintiffs who thought they had been paid prices for the berries based on price-fixing by the state’s four largest processors over four seasons in the late 1990s, the lawsuit has taken four years to wind through the courts.

It reached the Maine Supreme Court in Portland when Allen’s asked for the dismissal of its portion of the $56 million judgment. One day earlier, Cherryfield Foods and Wyman’s had reached settlements totaling $4 million through mediation. Merrill’s had reached a settlement with the growers last October, just days ahead of the trial, and was hardly mentioned in the court case after that.

At stake on May 14 is bringing the industry back into balance, with the exception of Allen’s unsettled role in the matter.

Attorneys for growers, Cherryfield Foods Inc. of Cherryfield, Jasper Wyman & Son of Milbridge and Merrill Blueberry Farms of Ellsworth all seek to bring the division in the industry to a close next week.

Merrill’s settlement figure is $85,000. It is contained in court papers filed last week and had not been disclosed previously.

After the Maine Department of Agriculture imposed mediation in January in an effort to get the industry back on track, Cherryfield Foods settled for $2.5 million in cash payments, and Wyman’s settled for $1.5 million plus other considerations.

“We hope to get the judge’s approval, and we expect the season to continue, hopefully without a glitch,” Robitzek said Wednesday. “The only problem may be Allen’s.”

When the other companies were settling on terms proposed by the mediator in mid-February, Allen’s was refusing.

The mediator thought that a $1 million payment by Allen’s would be a fair figure, but Allen’s didn’t buy it and made a counter offer of $400,000. Robitzek rejected it.

Justice Jabar is expected to rule May 14 if the settlements appear to be fair to all class members. If that’s his preliminary decision, he may also give his approval of the form of notice that all growers would get in order to seek and receive their shares of the settlements.

A second hearing to determine the court’s final approval would likely follow in June or July. If any growers object to the settlement at that point, they could be heard in court at that hearing.