A class action was filed against Perdue Farms Inc. claiming that Perdue sells its whole chickens with giblets stuffed inside the birds. Giblets is the term used for the chicken's heart, liver, gizzard and neck. Chicken products other than whole chickens are not sold with giblets. The Plaintiff claims that Perdue has a secret practice of disposing of additional giblet parts by inserting them into whole chickens sold to retail customers.The practice enables Perdue to dispose of the extra parts without having to pay to properly dispose of them. In addition, the practice incorporates the additional giblet parts in the price per pound of the whole chickens sold to consumers. Marin claims that the practice makes retail consumers of Perdue whole chickens pay for the privilege of disposing of Perdue's processing waste.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a class of all persons who purchased a Perdue whole chicken at retail pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2). In addition, the plaintiff seeks to represent a subclass pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3) defined as all persons who purchased a Perdue whole chicken at retail from Oct. 1, 2003, to the present in New Jersey, Illinois, California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington.

The plaintiff seeks damages for violations of numerous state consumer protection acts and unjust enrichment. The plaintiff further seeks declaratory relief pursuant to 28 U.S. Code Section 2201 whereby the court declares only the proportional amount of giblets is to be packaged in the whole chickens sold by Perdue. The plaintiff also seeks an order requiring Perdue to establish a program to inspect processed whole chickens to eliminate the packaging of extra giblets.