The Lamb Weston lawsuit landscape covers three active fronts: a federal securities fraud class action over a failed software rollout that wiped out billions in market value, a sprawling antitrust multidistrict litigation accusing the company and three competitors of fixing frozen potato prices, and a Washington state wage-and-hour class action seeking roughly $14 million. All three are in pretrial stages, and none has gone to trial.
The Securities Fraud Case Over the ERP Rollout
The Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund filed suit in June 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, case number 24-CV-282, naming Lamb Weston, former CEO Thomas P. Werner, and former CFO Bernadette M. Madarieta.1Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP. Lamb Weston The class period runs from July 25, 2023, through April 3, 2024, and the complaint accuses the defendants of hiding severe problems with a new enterprise resource planning system built on SAP software.2Capital Press. Securities Lawsuit Claims Lamb Weston Hid Tech Problems That Cost Millions
The ERP system went live in November 2023 and was supposed to integrate North American inventory with customer orders, invoicing, shipping, and warehouse operations. According to the second amended complaint, it did the opposite: the company lost visibility into its own distribution center inventory, customer fulfillment rates fell, and the hardest hit were higher-margin customers with complex mixed-product orders.3Supply Chain Dive. Lamb Weston ERP Transition Q3 Challenges The complaint alleges Werner and Madarieta were warned by internal executives and by consultant Ernst & Young that the system was not ready, pushed forward with the launch anyway, and then publicly described the transition as producing only the “usual bumps” while reaffirming financial guidance.4Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP. Second Amended Complaint, Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund v. Lamb Weston Holdings Madarieta is alleged to have rewritten internal presentations to soften the picture and publicly characterized the rollout as having “no major issues.”
The legal counts are brought under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 for materially false statements and omissions, with a second count under Section 20(a) asserting that Werner and Madarieta are personally liable as controlling persons.5Levi & Korsinsky, LLP. Complaint, Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund v. Lamb Weston Holdings
What the Rollout Cost
Lamb Weston disclosed the damage on April 4, 2024, in its fiscal third-quarter results: $135 million in lost sales, a $72 million hit to net income, a $95 million blow to adjusted EBITDA, and a $330 million cut to full-year sales guidance. Total sales volume fell 16% in the quarter, with about half of that decline tied directly to the ERP problems.3Supply Chain Dive. Lamb Weston ERP Transition Q3 Challenges The stock fell more than 19% in a day, roughly $19.59 per share.6GlobeNewsWire. Lamb Weston Holdings Stockholders Should Contact Robbins LLP Further disclosures, including the loss of McDonald’s business, drove declines of more than 28% on July 24, 2024, and another 20% on December 19, 2024. The complaint puts total lost market capitalization at over $5 billion.4Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP. Second Amended Complaint, Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund v. Lamb Weston Holdings
Where the Case Stands
Judge David C. Nye granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss on May 12, 2026, allowing the case to move forward.7Robbins LLP. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.8Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. Securities Litigation No trial date has been reported.
The Frozen Potato Antitrust MDL
Separately, Lamb Weston is a defendant in multidistrict litigation consolidated as MDL No. 3117 before Judge Matthew F. Kennelly in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.9Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. Frozen Potato Products Antitrust The co-defendants are McCain Foods USA, J.R. Simplot Company, and Cavendish Farms. Together with Lamb Weston, those four companies control nearly 98% of the $68 billion U.S. frozen potato market. Plaintiffs include direct purchasers such as Redner’s Markets as well as consumer indirect purchasers.
The complaints allege that starting in at least January 2021, the four processors ran coordinated, near-simultaneous price increases on frozen French fries, hash browns, and tater tots. A January 2025 complaint describes “lockstep” and “tit for tat” hikes that let the companies reach record margins even as input costs fell, and quotes alleged internal remarks that competitors were “behaving themselves” and had “no incentive to fight” for each other’s market share.10CCH. Foods Galore Inc. v. Lamb Weston Holdings, Complaint The same complaint alleges Lamb Weston managers were directed to communicate by text rather than email to avoid discoverable records, and that employees were forbidden from emailing competitor price announcements to C-suite executives to preserve “plausible deniability.”
Algorithmic pricing is also in play. Dozens of suits in the consolidated case involve allegations about data analytics platforms used in the frozen potato industry.11Corporate Counsel. Big Potato Antitrust Suits Test Legal Landscape for Algorithmic Pricing On February 27, 2026, the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest addressing a platform called “PotatoTrack” and arguing that information exchanges among competitors can constitute illegal concerted action under the Sherman Act.12Agri-Pulse. DOJ Weighs In on Frozen Potato Antitrust Lawsuit The DOJ has not opened its own investigation.
The MDL is in the motion-to-dismiss phase. Defendants moved to dismiss on December 5, 2025, and plaintiffs filed opposition briefs on February 4, 2026.9Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. Frozen Potato Products Antitrust As of February 2026, consumer plaintiffs were pressing Judge Kennelly to let the case proceed to discovery.13Law360. Consumers Fight to Keep Frozen Potato Antitrust Suit Alive
The Washington Wage and Hour Class Action
Former employee Derrick Gilbert filed a class action in January 2025 in Benton County Superior Court in Washington, and the case was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in April 2025.14Columbia Basin Herald. Lamb Weston Faces $14 Million Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Wage Violations
Covering January 2022 through January 2025, the complaint alleges Lamb Weston routinely denied hourly workers at its Washington facilities the mandatory 10-minute rest breaks and 30-minute meal breaks required by state law, failed to pay for all hours worked, shorted overtime and minimum wage, made illegal deductions, and failed to properly accrue paid sick leave.15PotatoPro. Lamb Weston Faces Class Action Lawsuit for Failing to Give Washington Workers Proper Breaks The plaintiffs seek roughly $14.2 million: about $5.7 million in back wages doubled to nearly $11.4 million under Washington’s statutory damages provision, plus attorney fees and interest.
Lamb Weston has denied the allegations and is challenging class certification. The company is represented by Littler Mendelson.14Columbia Basin Herald. Lamb Weston Faces $14 Million Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Wage Violations
Leadership Turnover Around the Litigation
The two individual defendants in the securities case have both left their roles. In October 2024, activist investor Jana Partners took a 5% stake worth $336 million and pressed for change.16Yahoo Finance. Jana Partners Criticises Lamb Weston On December 19, 2024, Lamb Weston announced that CEO Tom Werner would step down effective January 3, 2025, replaced by COO Michael Smith. Jana publicly called the move insufficient, saying the “board has completely failed shareholders” and suggesting the company be sold.
CFO Bernadette Madarieta also departed the CFO role. The company announced in February 2026 that James D. Gray would succeed her effective April 2, 2026, with Madarieta staying on in an interim advisory capacity to support the transition.17Yahoo Finance. Lamb Weston Announces Leadership Changes Both remain named defendants in the securities action.