Flue-Cured Tobacco Class Action Lawsuit Moves Forward

If you were a member and/or shareholder of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation at any time through the end of crop year 2004, your rights may be affected by a consolidated class action lawsuit.

Two Flue-Cured Tobacco class action lawsuits were initially filed by a group of tobacco farmers against Flue-Cured Tobacco in 2005. The two complaints were consolidated and a third amended complaint was filed in July 2012.

According to the consolidated Flue-Cured Tobacco class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs or their representatives have been producers of flue-cured tobacco and members of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation.

The plaintiffs claim Flue-Cured Tobacco accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars over several decades but withheld those funds from Class Members. They are seeking money damages and a partial distribution of their assets held by Flue-Cured Tobacco.

Flue-Cured Tobacco denies all of the allegations.

The Flue-Cured Tobacco class action lawsuit was granted Class certification in February 2014.

Class Members of the Flue-Cured Tobacco lawsuit include:

“All individuals, proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, or their heirs, representatives, executors or assigns, and other proper entities that have been members/shareholders of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation (n/k/a United States Tobacco Cooperative, Inc.) (hereafter ‘Stabilization’) at any time from its inception through the end of crop year 2004, and any heirs, representatives, executors, successors or assigns; and; (a) had not requested cancellation of their membership and whose membership was cancelled without a hearing, and/or (b) were issued a certificate of interest in capital reserve by Stabilization for any of the tobacco crop years between and including 1967-1973, and/or (c) delivered, consigned for sale, or sold flue-cured tobacco and paid an assessment for deposit into the No Net Cost Tobacco Fund or No Net Cost Tobacco Account during any tobacco crop years between and including 1982-2004.”

A trial date has not been set for the Flue-Cured Tobacco class action lawsuit.

The deadline to exclude yourself from or intervene in the Flue-Cured Tobacco class action lawsuit is Oct. 26, 2017.

For more information about the Flue-Cured Tobacco class action lawsuit, visit FlueCuredClassAction.com or keep checking TopClassActions.com for updates. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented by C. Alan Runyan, A.G. Solomons III and Andrew Platte of Speights & Runyan; Philip R. Isley of Blanchard Miller Lewis & Isley PA; Dennis T. Worley and Paul J. Ekster of Wright Worley Pope Ekster & Moss; Lonnie Boyd Williams and William Robert Cherry Jr. of Marshall Williams & Gorham; James L. Ward Jr. of McGowan Hood & Felder LLC; Charles H. Williams of Williams and Williams; and Terry E. Richardson Jr. and Robert S. Wood of Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman LLC.

The Flue-Cured Tobacco Class Action Lawsuit is Lewis, et al. v. Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corp., Case Nos. 05 CVS 188 and 05 CVS 1938, in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division for the State of North Carolina, County of Wake.