Barney’s Beanery ‘Kobe Beef’ Class Action Settlement Gets Final OK

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

On Thursday, a California judge gave final approval to a class action settlement that will end claims alleging Barney’s Beanery falsely advertised that certain menu items contained “Kobe” beef.

The class action settlement agreement requires Barney’s Beanery to stop using the term “Kobe beef” in its menus unless it uses the term “American Kobe beef” and provide affected consumers with $10 or $15 gift cards. The settlement amount is capped at $220,000.

Under the terms of the Kobe beef class action settlement, Barney’s Beanery will give a $10 gift certificate to any Class Member who submits a claim and a $15 gift certificate to Class Members who can submit proof that they purchased a “Kobe beef” menu item, including a receipt or credit card statement. Also according to the terms of the class action settlement, Barney’s Beanery must pay at least 40 percent of the settlement fund. Barney’s Beanery makes no admission of wrongdoing in the settlement agreement.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth R. Freeman held a hearing on Thursday to provide final approval for the terms in the Barney’s Beanery class action settlement agreement. The agreement settles claims made in a class action lawsuit filed in October 2012 that Barney’s Beanery restaurants fraudulently told customers through its menu that it offered Kobe beef products.

The Barney’s Beanery class action lawsuit alleged that Kobe beef is available only from Wagyu breed cattle raised and slaughtered in Kobe, Japan. The plaintiffs also claimed that Kobe beef products were banned from import by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from May 2010 until shortly before the filing of the class action lawsuit because of concerns about the spread of mad cow and foot-and-mouth diseases and other problems and therefore the Barney’s Beanery restaurant chain could not have offered authentic Kobe beef on its menus.

Out of several Los Angeles restaurants hit with class action lawsuits over allegedly misleadingly labeled Kobe beef products, Barney’s Beanery was one of the last restaurants to settle. The other restaurants who faced class actions also made settlement agreements including gift cards for affected Class Members.

Class Members of the Barney’s Beanery Kobe beef class action settlement include: “All California based consumers who were exposed to [Barney’s Beanery’s] online and/or in store menus, and who purchased a Subject Food Product (or any menu item that was advertised to contain ‘Kobe’ beef on Defendant’s online and/or in store menus) at or from a [Barney’s Beanery] restaurant located in the State of California at any time from October 3, 2008 through January 27, 2014.”

The deadline to file a claim for the Barney’s Beanery Kobe beef class action settlement passed on July 25, 2014. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

If you missed out, sign up for our free newsletter to receive updates on new class action lawsuits and settlements. You can also check out which class action settlements are still accepting claims in our Open Class Action Settlements section.

The Barney’s Beanery Kobe Beef False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Krikor Nalbantian, et al. v. Barney’s Worldwide Inc., et al., Case No. BC493145, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.