Organic milk is the subject of today’s class action lawsuit entitled In Re: Aurora Dairy Corp. Organic Milk Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation in the jurisdiction of the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse. The lawsuit claims that Aurora’s organic milk used deceptive methods when advertising organic milk and duped customers into paying more for this milk due to these methods. The labeling of the Aurora organic milk displayed happy cows grazing in a plush pasture on farms when in all actuality the cows were “the animals were living short, stressful lives being forced to produce copious quantities of milk in the kind of filthy industrial conditions that organic consumers thought they were avoiding” via the class action lawsuit. The following organic milk brands have been named in this lawsuit: Aurora Organic Dairy’s “High Meadow”, Costco’s “Kirkland”, Wild Oats’, Wal-Mart’s “Great Value”, Target’s “Archer Farms” and Safeway’s “Safeway Select” and “O Organics” brands. It should be noted that the milk in questions was certified as organic by a USDA-accredited certifying agency. Class members in this lawsuit include anyone who purchased one of the milk products in question anytime before September 14, 2012. OrganicMilkMarketingSettlement.com provides the claim form and other court documents. Settlement payouts for class members who file timely claims will be between $10 to $30. Claim forms must be filed no later than March 13, 2013 in order to receive settlement compensation.
A settlement fairness hearing will be held on February 26, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to determine if the settlement is fair among other issues. The hearing will be held at 111 South 10th Street, St. Louis, MO 63102 at the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse. If you don’t have a printer you can request a claim form by making a written request by mail to: Aurora Organic Dairy Litigation Settlement, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 808003, Petaluma, CA 94975-8003. If you are a class member and fail to file a claim you will not reap any benefits under these settlement terms. The Aurora Organic Dairy Litigation Settlement will conclude 19 separate class action lawsuits filed in 2007. The moral of this lawsuit is don’t show happy cows on your product when the cows are anything but happy.
