7 U.S.C. § 209
Section 209 · Liability to individuals for violations; enforcement generally
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 46 court decisions — leading case Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. v. Northwestern Public Service Co. (1951)
Most recently applied in CPC Livestock, LLC v. Fifth Third Bank, Inc. (April 2013)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) If any person subject to this chapter violates any of the provisions of this chapter, or of any order of the Secretary under this chapter, relating to the purchase, sale, or handling of livestock, the purchase or sale of poultry, or relating to any poultry growing arrangement or swine production contract, he shall be liable to the person or persons injured thereby for the full amount of damages sustained in consequence of such violation.
(b) Such liability may be enforced either (1) by complaint to the Secretary as provided in section 210 of this title, or (2) by suit in any district court of the United States of competent jurisdiction; but this section shall not in any way abridge or alter the remedies now existing at common law or by statute, but the provisions of this chapter are in addition to such remedies.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–171 inserted “or swine production contract” after “poultry growing arrangement”.
1987—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–173 inserted “the purchase or sale of poultry, or relating to any poultry growing arrangement,” after “livestock,”.
1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–410 struck out references to violations of specific sections and added packers to categories of regulated persons against whom private action could be brought for violation of chapter.
Effective Date of 1987 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–173 effective 90 days after Nov. 23, 1987, see section 12 of Pub. L. 100–173, set out as a note under section 182 of this title.