A class action lawsuit has been filed against Diamond Foods, Inc out of the Northern District Court of California. The lawsuit claims that Diamond mislabeled its walnut products and even made inaccurate misleading statements about the health benefits of walnuts to consumers in hope of increasing sales. The case is styled Elliot Zeisel v. Diamond Foods, Inc. and includes anyone who between March 22, 2006 through January 30, 2012 bought Diamond Walnuts. This includes the Shelled, Halves, Chopped, Finely Diced, Chips and Nut Topping products as well. Diamond like any other defendant in a class action suit has denies all wrong doing but has agreed to a $2.6 million settlement to put this incident behind them. Class members who bought a 3 pound bag of walnuts will receive $8.25 per bag. Members who bought any Diamond of California walnut product are entitled to a payment of $3.25 per bag (pending the fairness hearing). In order to take part of this settlement as a class member you MUST file a claim form no later than OCTOBER 26, 2012. A claim form can be submitted by mail or online. A final approval hearing has been rescheduled for October 12, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. at 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102. The case will be held before Judge Jeffrey S. White. Class members in the case are being represented by Joseph N. Kravec, Jr. of STEMBER FEINSTEIN DOYLE PAYNE & KRAVEC, LLC out of the steel city. Please do not contact Diamond Foods about the lawsuit. Walnut Labeling Settlement also provides the settlement agreement, Order Continuing Final Approval Hearing and the Preliminary Approval Order.
Diamond Foods, Inc are headquartered in Stockton, California and are a popular walnut packaging firm. They were founded in 1912 and are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under ticker symbol DMND. Besides walnuts they also package potato chips, popcorn and Emerald snack nuts. They were founded under a member-owned Californian agricultural cooperative association and have a good reputation until this untimely lawsuit emerged.
