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This settlement is closed!
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An $85 million settlement has been reached resolving allegations that The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company sold wild bird food that was tainted with pesticides.
If you purchased Scotts Morning Song Bird Food products between Nov. 1, 2005 and May 1, 2008, you could get a full refund with receipts from this class action settlement.
The Scotts bird food class action lawsuit states that for three years, Scotts used two different pesticides in its Morning Song Bird Food products including Storcide II and Actellic 5E.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice brought charges against Scotts in 2012 for the toxic bird seed and the company ended up paying $12.5 million in fines.
That same year, several Scotts class action lawsuits were consolidated into multidistrict litigation over allegations that Scotts violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and 18 other claims of violations of state statutes and common law.
The Scotts Morning Song Bird Food class action was vigorously fought by the company who moved to dismiss and obtain summary judgment over the next few years.
Scotts consumers refused to back down, telling the court that no reasonable person would buy bird seed that was “so hazardous and so worthless that Scotts buried in landfills every bag it could get its hands on (nearly 2 million).”
In addition, the plaintiffs say that Scotts has admitted that all of its 70 million bags of bird food that were sold during this time period were toxic to the wild bird population.
“Defendants have already pled guilty to applying the toxic pesticides at issue to all [wild bird feed] from November 2005 until March 2008; they have produced manufacturing records corroborating this admission; and defendants do not deny their records can be used to determine when the affected products were shipped to which retailers,” the consumers stated while fighting Scotts dismissal motion.
Under the terms of the settlement, Class Members who have been found through retail records from Sam’s Club, PetSmart, Menard’s, and others, will automatically get a full refund of their purchase of Morning Song Bird Food products.
Likewise, consumers who are able to provide receipts along with their Claim Form showing the quantity of products purchased, retailer, date, and amounts paid during the Class period will also receive a full refund.
Class Members who purchased Morning Song Bird Food products but cannot provide a proof of purchase will be limited to claiming up to $100 per household and will be paid out after the Retailer-Identified Refunds and Proof of Purchase Refunds have been distributed.
Those who want to object to the settlement or wish to be excluded from it must do so by May 13, 2019.
Who’s Eligible
Class Members include U.S. consumers who purchased certain Scotts Morning Song Bird products between Nov. 1, 2005 and May 1, 2008. A full list of covered products can be found here.
Potential Award
$100 – Full Refund
Retailer-Identified Refunds: Class Members who have been found through retail records from stores including Sam’s Club, PetSmart, Menard’s, Home, Tractor Supply Company, Orscheln Farm, will automatically receive a full refund of Morning Song Bird Food product purchases. However, they will be provided a chance to correct any information that is not found in records such as additional purchases that aren’t included in store records.
Proof of Purchase Refunds: Consumers who provide receipts along with their Claim Forms proving the dates and amount paid for Morning Song Bird Food products will also receive a full refund.
Claim Form Refunds: Class Members who don’t have receipts or who haven’t been found by retailer records can still receive up to $100 per household. However, these funds will be issued from the remaining settlement fund after all Retailer-Identified Refunds and Proof of Purchase Refunds have been paid out.
If all of these claims are paid and all litigation expenses have been awarded and there is still money left in the settlement fund, additional and automatic refunds will be sent out.
Proof of Purchase
Not required, but those who provide proof of purchase will receive a full refund.
Consumers who received a notice of a Retailer-Identified Refund need to read the notice to see if they need to provide additional information. All other Class Members will need to submit a Claim Form and provide sales receipts showing the amount of covered products purchased, date, and dollar amount paid.
Claim Form
NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.
Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Claim Form Deadline
7/1/2019
Case Name
In re: Morning Song Bird Food Litigation, Case No. 3:12-cv-01592, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Final Hearing
6/3/2019
UPDATE: The Scotts Morning Song Bird Food Class Action Settlement was granted final approval on June 11, 2019. Please note that claims will not be paid until after the claim deadline. Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
UPDATE 2: On Dec. 21, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail worth as much as $332. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!
Settlement Website
Claims Administrator
In re Morning Song Bird Food Litigation
c/o KCC Class Action Services
P.O. Box 404107
Louisville, KY 40233-4107
1-866-459-1390
info@BirdFoodSettlement.com
Class Counsel
Jason A. Forge,
Rachel L. Jensen
Michael Albert
Rachel A. Cocalis
ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP
Douglas P. Dowd
Alex R. Lumaghi
DOWD & DOWD PC
John J. Driscoll
Christopher Quinn
Gregory Pals
THE DRISCOLL FIRM PC
Defense Counsel
Edward Patrick Swan Jr.
Jeffrey J. Jones
Casteel Borsay
Marjorie P. Duffy
JONES DAY
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280 thoughts onScotts Morning Song Bird Food Class Action Settlement
Never got a check for a store identified purchase of over $800. Now, email received states not reissuing any checks at this time. This is for an 83 year old widow. Shameful!
When is that 2nd check coming?
I can’t contact any live person anymore!
Please let me know if you find out anything. I emailed them a couple of times to no avail
I received a $7.96 check last month. Deposited it in my bank and it was returned by Birdsong and my bank charged me $12.50 return fee! Real nice.
Never got any check