The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear StarKist Co.’s appeal of a lower court's decision that let three groups of tuna purchasers receive class action status to jointly sue the Dongwon Industries-owned canned tuna company for alleged price fixing. The litigation follows a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into a conspiracy by U.S. suppliers of packaged tuna, including StarKist, and Bumble Bee Foods to fix prices in violation of criminal antitrust laws. StarKist pleaded guilty, admitting to having fixed the prices of canned tuna from as early as November 2011 through at least as late as December 2013, and was sentenced in 2019 to a $100 million fine. Bumble Bee and three industry executives also pleaded guilty. Former Bumble Bee CEO Christopher Lischewski was convicted at trial and sentenced in 2020 to forty months in prison.