Anne Bucher  |  September 6, 2016

Category: Closed Class Actions

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This settlement is closed!

Please see what other class action settlements you might qualify to claim cash from in our Open Settlements directory!

milk price-fixing settlement

UPDATE 4:

  • Top Class Actions viewers reported this settlement paying out a second distribution of up to $18.90 as of early January 2022.
  • Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got paid!

UPDATE 3:

  • Top Class Actions viewers reported this settlement paying out up to $7.61 as of late September 2021.
  • Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got paid!

UPDATE 2:

  • According to the settlement website and court documents, digital settlement payments in the Fresh Milk settlement will will be distributed starting Sept. 20, 2021.
  • Paper checks are scheduled to go out Sept. 27, 2021.

UPDATE:

  • On April 27, 2021, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the fresh milk products price-fixing settlement.
  • There is a 90-day period before the appeal is final, and then the processing of claimant payments will begin.
  • A payment date has not yet been released.
  • Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.

National Milk Producers Federation aka Cooperatives Working Together (CWT), Dairy Farmers of America Inc., Land O’Lakes Inc., Dairylea Cooperative Inc. and Agri-Mark Inc. have agreed to settle an antitrust class action lawsuit that accuses them of engaging in a conspiracy to fix milk prices.

If you purchased milk or other fresh milk products (including half & half, cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt or cream) since 2003, you may be entitled to payment from the milk products class action settlement.

If approved, this antitrust settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit that accuses the defendants of participating in a nationwide conspiracy to limit the production of raw farm milk by slaughtering cows prematurely, causing the price of milk and other fresh milk products to increase.

CWT was developed by the National Milk Producers Federation with the stated purpose of strengthening and stabilizing milk prices. Founded in 2003, the CWT reportedly involves dairy producers located throughout the United States which produce close to 70 percent of the nation’s milk.

According to the milk antitrust class action lawsuit, the dairy farmers participating in the alleged antitrust conspiracy with CWT agreed to prematurely slaughter the dairy cows in their herds and, as of Apr. 1, 2009, they agreed not to reenter the dairy farming business for at least one year.

“The principle purpose and effect of this contract, combination and conspiracy has been to reduce the supply of milk, eliminate competition, and significantly reduce the number of dairy farmers competing in the market in order to increase the price of raw farm milk,” the milk products price-fixing class action lawsuit states.

The defendants deny the allegations but agreed to settle the fresh milk products class action lawsuit to avoid the expense and uncertainty associated with ongoing litigation.

The fresh milk products price-fixing settlement received preliminary approval on Aug. 25, 2016.

If you would like to object to or exclude yourself from the milk products antitrust class action settlement, you must do so no later than Oct. 28, 2016.

Who’s Eligible

If you, since 2003, purchased milk or other milk products (including half & half, cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt or cream) when you were a resident of one of the following states, you may be entitled to payment from this milk price-fixing class action settlement:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • District of Columbia
  • Kansas
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • Oregon
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Vermont
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin

NOTE: To be eligible for benefits from this class action settlement, you must have purchased the milk products from a grocery store or other retailer, not directly from one of the defendants. The products must not have been purchased for resale.

Schools, after-school programs and other entities who bought milk for their students/participants, but didn’t charge them for it, are eligible to file a claim for this class action settlement. However, governmental entities are excluded from the Class.

Potential Award

Varies.

The proposed settlement will offer a total of $52 million in compensation to Class Members. The actual amount of compensation each Class Member can expect to receive depends on how much milk was purchased for their household, and how many total claims are filed.

Proof of Purchase

N/A. Claimants must confirm that they were residents of one of the applicable states at some point in time between 2003 and the present and that they purchased milk or milk products during that time period. Claimants must declare under the penalty of perjury that all information they submit in the Claim Form is true and correct to the best of their knowledge.

Claim Form Deadline

1/31/2017

Case Name

Matthew Edwards v. National Milk Producers Federation, Case No. 4:11-cv-04766-JSW, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Final Hearing

12/16/2016

UPDATE: The Fresh Milk Products Pricing-Fixing settlement was granted final approval on June 26, 2017.  There is a 30 day period in which appeals can be filed.  As long as appeals are not filed, the estimated date the administrator is going to notify claimants via email to select their online distribution method is July 31, 2017.  The estimated date for payment distribution is September 11, 2017.  Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.  

UPDATE 2: On July 17, 2017, an appeal was filed in the fresh milk price-fixing settlement. This means payment disbursement could be delayed. Keep checking this article as we will post updates as soon as we learn more.

Settlement Website
Claims Administrator

Fresh Milk Products Antitrust Litigation
P.O. Box 43430
Providence, RI 02940-3430
1-877-417-4561
info@BoughtMilk.com

Class Counsel

HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP

Defense Counsel

Counsel for Agri-Mark Inc.:
Jill M. O’Toole
SHIPMAN & GOODWIN LLP

Counsel for Dairy Farmers of America Inc.:
Steven R. Kuney
WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP

Counsel for Land O’Lakes Inc.:
Nathan P. Eimer
EIMER STAHL LLP

Counsel for National Milk Producers Federation:
Kenneth P. Ewing
STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP

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226 thoughts onFresh Milk Products Price-Fixing Class Action Settlement

  1. Robert Struzinski says:

    Filed for the claim came back checking up on it several times over the years and never got anything. Live in AZ at the same address since 2008, same email address too and never got anything sent to me . My friends haven’t seen a penny either! We’ve been discussing how this has all gone down and how much BS this is. We all doubted we’d ever see a single penny and we were correct. Someone has scammed us all and has kept those cards for themselves, it all happened during the pandemic so it was masked by everything else that was going on. I’m sure that was why they did it when they did, perfect timing was executed and they made sure that a few people got something but I’ll bet 10% of all that filed a claim actually received anything. This was one of the largest scams ever pulled off by a class action settlement!
    There’s no place to check if your application was received or if your name was sent a check, that should be available in a database through the issuers. I’m positive the issuers have kept the majority of the money and closed shop as soon as possible. Now we need to go after the to look at their books and put those crooks in jail where they belong!

  2. Amber Atwood says:

    Add me please

  3. Ann says:

    How many other $18.89 MasterCard milk settlement people out there can’t use their cards? They do not work (Apple Pay/Google Pay/Internet, In-Person, etc.) tried to all. Provided all my information to My Prepaid Center and got a worthless digital card. Spent way too many hours trying to figure out the issue and try to come to some resolution. The email stated I could use wherever MasterCard is accepted – Wrong – come to find out these little scammers only have 79 place listed in the website that you can use it at – double wrong – another disgusted claimant wrote the to the Court regarding the same issues I am having.
    Just wanted to know if there are more out there – MAYBE WE SHOULD START A CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST THEM.

    1. Ann says:

      Resolved! After a couple of calls made to the right people involved, I received a new card.

    2. Robert Struzinski says:

      I’ll bet not many because very few even received any payment at all, but I’m sure that 99% of the 10% of people who did receive get them can’t use them. The other 90% of us never even saw any email or oayment, so it makes sense that they’re trying to pay out as little as possible, can you provide the company that issued the cards,? I’d love to give them a call to find out where my card is and start an investigation into where all the cards went. They should have a data base showing all payments made. Then compare that to the original amount of claims and find out exactly how much they failed to distribute.

  4. Update says:

    Update : January 1, 2022
    Starting on January 1st ,2022 any claimant who accepted their initial payment will receive a new email containing their additional payment on a digital Virtual Mastercard. The pro-rata amount is still being calculated and will be updated soon.

    For more information on expired payments and the pro-rata distribution, please visit https://www.boughtmilk.com/faqs/

    1. MC says:

      I got $18.90 today but on a virtual prepaid card. I hate these. I have never been able to get them to work. May as well hand me monopoly money!

      1. Chris K says:

        I hate virtual gift cards too but if u add the card info into your Google pay wallet on your smartphone and you’ll be able to use it at any retail store via contactless pay.

      2. Char says:

        You can convert it to plastic but they take $3 off the balance for that. Got mine in today. Took about a week or so.

        1. Cat says:

          I hate gift cards as settlement payment too! (I had never even heard of “virtual” cards before. Had to google it.) They are inconvenient and restrictive. (Made me wonder how many people just don’t bother to use them. And, where does all that unredeemed money go? Hmm . . . ) Anyway – here’s a tip for Californians who may not be aware: We have a “gift card law” in this state that requires merchants to redeem gift cards for cash upon request if the balance is less than $10.00. So I took my $18.90 and purchased two gift cards for $9.45 each at Target.com. I printed them out, and the next time I went to my local store, I redeemed them for cash. Another less-hassle option is to use the virtual money to pay a service provider (cable, water, gas & electric, etc.). If the provider takes credit cards, they’ll accept this virtual MasterCard. Be aware, though, that some may charge a fee (my cable company doesn’t charge a fee to use a credit card, but the utility company does).

  5. V. Egan says:

    09/21/2021 Received $7.51 Amazon gift card in Missouri.

  6. Karen Johnson says:

    Filed a claim received notification I would be paid via PayPal. Never received payment.

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