Loblaw Companies Limited and parent company George Weston Limited have agreed to pay out $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit against them for their role in a bread price-fixing scheme.
“On behalf of the Weston group of companies, we are sorry for the price-fixing behaviour we discovered and self-reported in 2015. This behaviour should never have happened,” said Galen Weston, chairman of Loblaw and chairman and CEO of George Weston, in a press release on July 25.
“We have the privilege of serving Canadians from coast to coast. That privilege needs to be earned each and every day. Reaching a settlement on this matter was the right thing to do in response to previous behaviour that did not meet our values and ethical standards.”George Weston will pay out $247.5 million in cash as part of the settlement, while Loblaw will pay $252.5 million—consisting of $156.5 million in cash and credit for $96 million previously paid to customers by Loblaw under the Loblaw Card program.
