Ex Parte Gold Kist, Inc.

Gold Kist, Inc., petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to set aside its order designating a class and certifying the plaintiffs' action as a class action. The petition is granted in part and denied in part.

The record presented to us indicates the following: Gold Kist is an agricultural cooperative engaged in the business of selling different kinds of animal feed to its farmer members throughout the Southeast. Gold Kist sells this feed in Alabama primarily through 14 retail stores located throughout the state. A single feed mill in Guntersville supplies a…