Butter and Cheese Class Action

A Court has established, or "certified," this case as a class action lawsuit. The Notice is to inform you that a $220 million settlement has been reached. If you are a Class Member, you have legal rights and options before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the settlement. The Notice explains all of these things.

Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (the “Court”), is currently overseeing this case. The case is known as First Impressions Salon, Inc., et al. v. National Milk Producers Federation, et al., Case No. 3:13-CV-00454-NJR-GCS. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs. The companies they sued, Agri-Mark, Inc., Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., Land O’Lakes, Inc., and National Milk Producers Federation are called the Defendants.

Click here to review a copy of the Notice.

In a class action, one or more people called "Named Plaintiffs" (in this case, First Impressions Salon, Inc., Roy Mattson, Piggly Wiggly Midwest, LLC, and KPH Healthcare Services d/b/a Kinney Drugs, Inc.) sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are a “Class” or “Class Members.” One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

In the Third Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint (the “Complaint”, available here), Plaintiffs claim that from December 6, 2008, through July 31, 2013, Defendants violated the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §1, and conspired and combined to limit the production of raw farm milk through premature “herd retirements” that required participating dairy farmers to remove all of the milking cows in their herds and, beginning on April 1, 2009, forego a 10% incentive payment if they wished to reenter the dairy farming business within one year. The Complaint alleges that the principal purpose and effect of this contract, combination, and conspiracy has been to eliminate competition, significantly reduce the number of dairy farmers competing in the market, and produce both short-term and long-term increases in the prices of butter and cheese. Defendants deny these claims.

The Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiffs or Defendants. Instead, both sides have agreed to the Settlement. By agreeing to a settlement, the parties avoid the costs and uncertainty of a trial, and if the settlement is approved by the Court, Class Members will be eligible to receive a payment from this settlement. The settlement does not mean that any law was broken or that the Defendants did anything wrong. The Defendants deny all legal claims in this case. Plaintiffs and their lawyers think the settlement is best for everyone who is affected.

On September 29, 2017, the Court has decided that everyone who fits the following description is a Class Member:

1. All persons and entities in the United States that purchased butter directly from one or more Members of Defendant, Cooperatives Working Together and/or their subsidiaries, during the period from December 6, 2008 to July 31, 2013 who did not timely opt-out of the Class pursuant to the Class Notice approved by the Court in its order dated May 8, 2018 and transmitted to the Class on May 31, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as “Butter Sub-Class”); and
2. All persons and entities in the United States that purchased cheese directly from one or more Members of Defendant, Cooperatives Working Together and/or their subsidiaries, during the period from December 6, 2008 to July 31, 2013 who did not timely opt-out of the Class pursuant to the Class Notice approved by the Court in its order dated May 8, 2018 and transmitted to the Class on May 31, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as “Cheese Sub-Class”).

A notice was subsequently issued as ordered by the Court in which affected businesses and individual purchasers were required to submit a request for exclusion by July 30, 2018 if they did not want to stay in the Class.

The Court decided that the deadline to request exclusion from the Class was July 30, 2018. Since that deadline has now passed, you cannot request exclusion from the Class at this time.

The “Members” are the CWT members listed as follows:

In order to be a Class Member, you must have bought butter and/or cheese directly from one of the CWT members listed in FAQ 7.

Yes. Though most Class Members are larger entities, some butter and cheese products were sold at CWT co-op stores directly to individual consumers. Click here to see a list of those stores and their locations.

If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Class, you can call the toll-free number 1-855-804-8574, or write to Class Action Administrator, P.O. Box 4290, Portland, OR 97208-4290 for more information.

As part of the Settlement, the National Milk Producers Federation will deposit $220 million into a Settlement Fund. These monies will be deposited in installments over approximately the next four years as described in detail in the Settlement Agreement, which is posted here.

The settlement provides that payments to Class Members will be allocated as follows:

• 37% to the Butter Sub-Class, and
• 63% to the Cheese Sub-Class.

Payments to Class Members will be comprised of the $220 million plus applicable accrued interest, minus the following: attorneys’ fees and expenses, payments to the Named Plaintiffs, notice costs, administration costs, and taxes. For more information on attorneys’ fees and payments to the Named Plaintiffs, see FAQ 15 and FAQ 16.

In order to be eligible for a payment from the Settlement, you must have submitted a Claim Form by April 23, 2021.

The Claim Form you received contains the total for your net purchases of cheese and butter from Defendants and/or members of CWT from December 6, 2008 to July 31, 2013. Please note that the settlement does not include Milk purchases.

When completing the claim form, please select whether you accept the purchase amount listed for Butter and the purchase amount listed for Cheese, or whether you would like to challenge either value and have documentation to provide. If you dispute the amount of identified total purchases for either Butter or Cheese, please provide documentation for consideration by the Administrator. Supporting documentation includes but is not limited to:

• Receipts;
• Invoices;
• Purchase Journals;
• Accounts Payable Journals; and/or
• Bank Statements in addition to a receipt;

Your supporting documentation must show:

• The date of the purchase;
• The name, address, and telephone number of the facility that made the purchase;
• Dollar amount purchased;
• Proof of payment including the amount paid for purchase and the date and manner of payment;
• Product description; and
• Quantity purchased;

The Claim Form must have been signed and verified by the Claimant or a person authorized to act on behalf of the Claimant and must have been postmarked no later than April 23, 2021.

Timing of check distribution will be subject to court approval of the distribution report. Undocumented Claims will be paid first. Payment of Documented Claims will follow. Please check this website for updates.

The Court appointed as Co-Lead Class Counsel: Don Barrett of Barrett Law Group, Lexington, Mississippi, Dianne M. Nast of NastLaw LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Michael L. Roberts of Roberts Law Firm, P.A., Dallas, Texas to represent you. You do not have to pay Class Counsel out of your own pocket. If you want to be represented by another lawyer, you may hire one to appear in Court for you at your own expense.

The Court will be asked to approve attorneys’ fees of up to 33.33% of the $220 million Settlement Fund plus interest and reimbursement of the attorneys’ expenses. The Court will also be asked to approve payments to the Named Plaintiffs for their service on behalf of the entire Class. These payments to Class Counsel and the Named Plaintiffs will be made from the Settlement Fund.

The deadline to write to the Court about why you do not like the Settlement passed on March 17, 2020.

The Fairness Hearing has been held. Final approval was granted on April 27, 2020. The Order Awarding Attorney Fees, Costs, and Class Representative Service Awards is available here. The Final Approval Order is available here.

Approval of the Settlement has released all claims in the class action. The specific release of claims is provided in the Settlement Agreement, which can be found here.

No. The hearing has passed. Class Counsel answered any questions the Court had. The Fairness Hearing has been held. Final approval was granted on April 27, 2020.

The hearing has passed. The Fairness Hearing has been held. Final approval was granted on April 27, 2020.

More information is available here, where you will find the Order Granting Class Certification, the Complaint that the Plaintiffs lodged, and the Defendants’ Joint Answer to Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint. You may also call toll-free at 1-855-804-8574 or write to Class Action Administrator, P.O. Box 4290, Portland, OR 97208-4290.

Do not contact any of the CWT Members for information regarding this lawsuit.