More than 1,600 Hormel meatpacking workers, including members of UFCW Local 663, allege the company violated Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time law by requiring vacation days instead of paid sick leave. A labor arbitrator had ruled the practice unlawful, and Hormel reportedly began complying in March 2025. The workers seek compensation; the reports do not state an outcome.
Hormel Foods is facing a class action lawsuit from over 1,600 meatpacking workers who allege the company violated Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time law. The union claims Hormel forced employees to use vacation days instead of providing the legally required paid sick leave for more than a year. A labor arbitrator had already ruled this practice unlawful, but the company only began complying in March 2025. Workers are now seeking compensation for the paid leave they were denied.
The lawsuit alleges that Hormel failed and refused to provide Local 663 members with paid leave benefits required by the Minnesota Earned Sick and Safe Time laws.
Food Dive reported that Hormel Foods-related political donations fell 99% to $3,725 in the 2024 election cycle, based on OpenSecrets data. Its Oct. 28, 2024 analysis says contributions associated with companies can come from PACs, employees, family members and others; federal law bars companies from contributing directly to candidates and party committees. OpenSecrets separately lists $7,279 in associated contributions.
The largest percentage decline among groups tied to the major food and beverage companies is Hormel Foods. The Spam manufacturer’s donations fell 99% to $3,725 during the current election cycle. Campbell Soup followed with a decline of 80% to $23,785.
Hormel agreed to hire 37 women with retroactive seniority and pay $550,000 in back wages to 403 female applicants denied entry-level production jobs at its Fremont, Nebraska, facility. The Labor Department found discriminatory selection practices from February 2008 to February 2009 and inadequate hiring records. Hormel did not admit liability; the agreement resolved the findings.
FREMONT, Neb. – Hormel Foods Corp. has agreed to hire 37 women with retroactive seniority and pay $550,000 in back wages to 403 female job applicants denied entry-level production positions at its Fremont hog-processing facility. The global food manufacturer’s action resolves U.S. Department of Labor findings that the company – a large federal contractor – discriminated in hiring against women in violation of Executive Order 11246.
A California settlement reported Dec. 2, 2014, in an As You Sow case naming Hormel Foods Corporation and others addressed alleged lead in listed Zaaschila and Bufalo salsas. MegaMex agreed to revise serving sizes, source chilies using specified controls, and limit lead or provide warnings. Total payments were $100,000; a judgment is dated Feb. 25, 2015.
MEGAMEX agrees that it will: (1) change the serving size on the Covered Products’ labels from 1 tablespoon to 1 teaspoon, to the extent it has not done so already; and (2) source chilies only from suppliers that (a) use good agricultural and manufacturing practices and (b) employ quality control measures, as those terms are used in Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, section 110.110, subdivision (c) and section 110.80, to reduce contamination by lead to the lowest level currently feasible; MEGAMEX further agrees that it will not market, sell, or distribute any Covered Product in California that has a lead concentration in excess of 0.06 parts per million (“Maximum Lead Level”), unless such Covered Product carries the warning set forth below in this paragraph 2.2. This concentration is dependent upon the serving size set forth in paragraph 2.1(1) above; unless required by applicable federal or state law, the serving size may not be changed without agreement by the parties. Should any product sold in California contain concentrations of lead above this level, the product shall carry the following warning: “WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.” If the level of lead in the product sold in California will result in an exposure in excess of the “no significant risk level” established under Proposition 65 for lead, MEGAMEX shall use the following warning: “WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.”
In 2024, Hormel agreed to settlements totaling $11.6 million with commercial and institutional indirect purchasers, direct purchasers and consumers in lawsuits alleging a conspiracy among pork producers to restrict supply and raise prices. A federal judge preliminarily approved two class settlements in May. Hormel would not admit fault; the defendants denied the allegations.
A federal judge granted two orders Monday preliminarily settling for $7.4 million class actions alleging Hormel Foods Corp. engaged in a conspiracy to illegally restrict the supply of pork products to fix consumer prices.
The multidistrict litigation currently pending before the Court consists of three direct purchaser actions involving an alleged conspiracy among American pork producers to fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize the price of pork in the United States. Also pending before the Court is a consolidated action—consisting of thirteen separately filed putative direct and indirect purchaser class actions and two individual actions—involving the same alleged conspiracy. In all the actions, plaintiffs allege that the pork producer defendants exchanged detailed, competitively sensitive, and non-public information about prices, capacity, sales volume, and demand through defendant Agri Stats—a specialized information-sharing service that provided benchmarking reports to the pork producers, which allegedly allowed them to monitor each other’s production and thereby control pork supply and price in violation of antitrust law.
Hormel Foods Corp. agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle claims with Darden Restaurants Inc.‘s LongHorn Steakhouse and other indirect purchasers accusing the company of conspiring to inflate the price of pork.
Hormel Foods will pay more than $11 million to settle class-action lawsuits alleging the company worked with other pork producers to illegally fix prices and overcharge customers, according to court records.
Following a review of Jennie-O Turkey Stores, a wholly owned Hormel Foods subsidiary, Jennie-O agreed in a June 15, 2016 settlement to hire 53 women and pay $491,861 in back wages to 339 female applicants denied entry-level jobs at its Willmar, Minnesota, turkey-processing plant.
A previous review of Jennie-O Turkey Stores, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods, resulted in a settlement on June 15, 2016 in which Jennie-O agreed to hire 53 women and pay $491,861 in back wages to 339 female applicants denied entry-level jobs at its Willmar, Minnesota, turkey processing plant.
The Hormel Foundation, a family foundation separate from Hormel Foods, was established in 1941 and is based in Austin, Minnesota. Its grants support areas including education, food access, housing, health and research, with most giving focused locally. The profile says its contributions derive from dividends on Hormel Foods common stock.
PROFILE: Established in 1941, the Hormel Foundation is a family foundation based in Austin, Minnesota. This is the foundation of George Hormel, who developed the Hormel Foods Corporation and his son, Jay Hormel. Separate from its corporate sister, the Hormel Foundation is one of the largest grantmakers in Minnesota. The Hormel Foundation’s contributions are a direct result from the dividend increases of Hormel Foods’ common stock – the Foundation’s main asset. The Hormel Foundation aims to “preserve the independence of the Hormel Foods Corporation, support the Austin, Minnesota community and area, and provide for the financial welfare of family heirs for the duration established by family trusts.” While Hormel lacks any sort of designated grant programs or pre-defined strategies, tax records indicate funding for education, food access, homelessness, healthcare and disease research, and basic needs.
In August 2024, Hormel Foods, subsidiary Rochelle Foods and supplier Quality Pork Processors agreed to a combined $13.5 million settlement of a class action alleging wage fixing and depressed compensation for red-meat plant workers. Hormel denied liability and the allegations, citing valid defenses, but said it settled to avoid litigation’s uncertainty, risk, expense and distraction. Subsidiary Jennie-O separately settled similar claims; terms of
By Thy Vo (August 22, 2024, 6:23 PM EDT) -- Hormel Foods Corp. and two meat processing plants have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement in a Colorado wage-fixing suit, joining a host of companies that have reached deals to end claims that they colluded to depress wages....
Hormel Foods, subsidiary Rochelle Foods and supplier Quality Pork Processors have settled a class-action lawsuit alleging illegal wage-fixing for a combined $13.5 million.
On Sept. 2, 2021, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the Animal Legal Defense Fund could sue Hormel under the district’s consumer-protection law and that federal meat-labeling rules did not preempt its advertising claims. ALDF alleges Hormel’s “all-natural” claims are deceptive because of pigs’ treatment; Hormel says its pigs are humanely raised and slaughtered. The ruling reversed a 2019 judgment for Hormel.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s brief argued that the whole point of the D.C. Council’s relaxed standing requirements for consumer nonprofits was to allow the groups to act as private attorneys-general to police the marketplace. The group contends that Hormel’s “all-natural” claims are deceptive because its pigs are subjected to inhumane treatment.
OSHA classified a Hormel Foods Corporation violation of the hazardous-energy control (lockout/tagout) standard as serious. The agency’s record lists one instance and six workers exposed. After Hormel contested the citation issued Aug. 19, 2022, the matter ended in a formal settlement on Dec. 2, with a $3,675 penalty, reduced from $5,250.
Standard Cited: 19100147 C07 I The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout).
OpenSecrets’ recipient data lists $7,279 in contributions associated with Hormel Foods, including $1,742 to Kamala Harris and $1,008 to Donald Trump. The site says the money came from individuals connected with the organization and their immediate family members, not the organization itself; it reports $0 from the organization.
NOTE: The organization itself did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate family members. Organizations themselves cannot contribute to candidates and party committees. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
A proposed class action filed Aug. 14, 2026, in Minnesota federal court alleges Hormel charged employees who use tobacco extra for health coverage without offering a way to avoid the fees, including through a quit-smoking program, or properly publicizing plan terms. The lawsuit was reported Aug. 17; no outcome is provided.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 14 in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota, accuses Hormel of financially penalizing tobacco-using employees without providing a method for avoiding the charges. The maker of Spam, Skippy peanut butter and other food products doesn’t offer a quit-smoking program that would allow workers to avoid the penalties either retroactively or going forward, and it doesn’t properly publicize relevant aspects of its plan, former Hormel ...
An archived OpenSecrets profile reports contributions by party and funding source across election cycles, based on federal filings. It lists $804 in 2022, split $435 to Democrats and $369 to Republicans, and $544,246 in 2020, including $500,137 in individual soft money. The page does not establish that Hormel itself made these contributions.
Hormel said in November 2025 it planned to cut 250 corporate and sales positions, close many open roles and reduce some office-based jobs, while also offering voluntary early retirement to some non-plant staff. The company said it was redirecting resources to strategic priorities; it expected $20 million to $25 million in restructuring charges.
Hormel Foods is planning to cut 250 corporate and sales positions as part of a corporate restructuring.
An archived OpenSecrets summary page labels $560,000 under “Lobbying” for 2023. The supplied evidence gives no further breakdown or details about the lobbying activity.
NPR recounts how Hormel Foods, a major Austin, Minnesota employer for generations, faced a bitter union strike in the 1980s after wage cuts and tougher working conditions. About 1,500 meatpackers took part, seeking to reverse changes that had undermined the plant’s reputation as a source of middle-class jobs.
Hormel Foods, which makes SPAM, provided jobs at its meatpacking plants to families in Austin, Minnesota for generations. And for a time, a job as a meatpacker at the Hormel Foods plant was a ticket to a sustainable, middle-class life. However, wage cuts and tougher working conditions led to a bitter union strike in the 1980s. Today, we revisit the time when about 1500 meatpackers captured the world's attention and tried to turn back an inevitable tide.
OpenSecrets lists $957,477 in political contributions associated with Hormel Foods. The supplied record gives no date range, recipient details or further breakdown, so it does not establish when the contributions were made or who received them.
A Black payroll specialist at a Hormel Foods plant in Georgia alleges the company fired her two days before Christmas because of her race and age, and in retaliation for her concerns about improper wage recordkeeping. The complaint was reported by Law360 on June 4, 2026; the supplied evidence gives no response or outcome.
By MJ Koo ( June 4, 2026, 7:34 PM EDT) -- A Black payroll specialist at a Hormel Foods Corp. plant in Georgia has accused the food company of firing her two days before Christmas because of her race and age, and in retaliation for raising concerns about improper wage recordkeeping, according to a complaint filed in federal court. . . .
The California Air Resources Board said Clougherty Packing/Farmer John, a Hormel Foods subsidiary, paid a $63,300 penalty in July 2008. Inspectors found it had not filed a required report for its Vernon facility and had failed to inspect its diesel truck fleet for excess emissions in 2006 and 2007. The penalty required corrective steps and records submissions.
Subsidiary of Hormel Foods failed to file transport refrigeration facilities report on time, inspect diesel truck fleet for excess emissions
In April 2024, Hormel Foods defended two workforce retirement plans against a proposed class action alleging problems with fees and investment options. In a motion to dismiss, the company argued the suit compared challenged funds with insufficiently similar alternatives and lacked details to proceed. The supplied account does not report a court ruling.
Hormel Foods Corp. defended a pair of retirement plans covering its workforce, saying a new lawsuit challenging the plans’ fees and funds doesn’t include the details needed to move forward in court.