Milk Buyers May Be Eligible to Receive Lawsuit Settlement Money

Summary: Dairy buyers in sixteen states are eligible for money from a class action settlement.

Got milk? Then get cash! According to ABC News 10, any person who bought milk in one of 16 states at any moment in the past 13 years may be eligible to receive cash. The money is part of a recent class-action lawsuit settlement that alleged dairy co-ops tried to reduce the size of their herds in order to raise dairy prices.

Dairy product buyers in Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wisconsin are eligible to apply for their portion of the $52 million settlement.

Dairy products include milk, cottage cheese, butter, and other fresh milk products; and buyers must have purchased them indirectly from the defendants, meaning the goods were bought at a store or retailer. The class action settlement money is meant for consumers and not resalers.

According to the official Bought Milk website, “Individuals may receive between $45 to $70, entities may receive between $1260-$1960.” The payout is dependent on how many individuals sign up to claim their cash, and the deadline to submit the form is January 31.

When asked about how much he thought individuals would actually receive back, UW-Madison agricultural economist Robert Cropp told ABC 10, “Depends on how many people apply. But I don’t think we’re looking at very many bucks.”

Defendants 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. settled the antitrust class action lawsuit for $52 million, but they denied all wrongdoing. They were accused of colluding and prematurely slaughtering cows in order to raise the price of goods.

The class action plaintiffs were represented by the law office of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

If you purchased milk in one of the aforementioned states any time from 2003 until now, you can submit a claim here. You may also contact the law office at info@boughtmilk.com.

Photo courtesy of BT.com