If you purchased milk or most dairy products over the last 14 years, you may be entitled to a piece of $52-million dollars in court-ordered refunds, but you've got two weeks to get your claim filed to share in the payout, as the deadline is January 31,, 2017.
In an anti-trust class-action lawsuit settled last fall, major United States dairy producers have been ordered to pay $52-million to residents of 16 states including Michigan. A website, BoughtMilk.com, has been established to explain the process for filing a claim to share in the refunds which could range from $5 to $20 or more for individuals or from $140 to $560 or more for schools or after-school programs that did not charge for the milk. Any organization that charged for milk, including institutions or restaurants are not eligible under the plan.
The website says that you are automatically a part of the class-action if you, since 2003 (and until 2011), purchased milk or other milk products including half & half, cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt or cream while you were a resident of one of the following states:
- Arizona
- California
- District of Columbia
- Kansas
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
To be eligible for benefits from the milk price-fixing class action settlement, you must have purchased the milk products from a grocery store or other retailer, not directly from one of the defendants, and the products must not have been purchased for resale. No proof of purchase is needed for your claim, just the official claim form which is available at the link below.
The lawsuit stemmed from charges that dairy producers slaughtered more than half-a-million cows in order to reduce the nation's milk supply and inflate prices as a result. The slaughter limited the supply of raw milk, thereby driving up prices for the dairy products that use them.
Here is the link for the claims form: https://www.boughtmilk.com/
