Walmart Bilks Grocery Customers by Gaming Product Weights, Class Action Alleges [UPDATE]
Last Updated on February 28, 2024
Kukorinis v. Walmart, Inc.
Filed: October 19, 2022 ◆§ 8:22-cv-02402
A class action alleges Walmart has overcharged consumers by falsely inflating product weights, mislabeling the weight of bagged produce, and inflating the price of sold-by-weight clearance and seafood products.
February 28, 2024 – Walmart Grocery Weight Lawsuit Settlement Website Is Live
The official website for the $45 million Walmart weighted groceries class action lawsuit is live and can be found at WalmartWeightedGroceriesSettlement.com.
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The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the court on January 19, 2024, covers all consumers who bought certain weighted goods and/or bagged citrus in person at a Walmart retail store, supercenter or neighborhood market in the United States or Puerto Rico between October 19, 2018 through and including January 19, 2024.
To file a claim, with or without proof, head to this page. If you received a notice ID and confirmation code with your personalized settlement notice, enter them in the appropriate fields and hit “submit” to proceed with filling out your claim form. If you did not receive a personalized notice with a notice ID and confirmation code, select the option on the right.
The deadline to file a Walmart groceries claim is June 5, 2024. The only way to get cash from the settlement is by filing a timely, valid claim. If you do nothing, you will receive no compensation from the settlement and be bound by its terms.
Each class member may only submit one claim form.
The amount an eligible class member can receive from the Walmart settlement—anywhere from $10 to $500—depends on the amount of weighted goods or bagged citrus they bought during the applicable time period and the total number of valid claim forms filed.
A final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for June 12, 2024. It is typically after a court grants final approval to a class action settlement, and any appeals or objections are resolved, that consumers will receive compensation.
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November 28, 2023 – Walmart Product Weight Lawsuit Settled for $45 Million
Walmart has agreed to pay $45 million to settle the proposed class action detailed on this page, with the plaintiffs asking the court to approve a deal that would provide up to $500 to consumers who provide documentation for covered purchases of weighted goods and bagged citrus.
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The proposed settlement, if approved by the court, would cover all consumers who bought weighted goods or bagged citrus in person at a Walmart retail store, supercenter or neighborhood market in the United States or Puerto Rico from October 19, 2018 through the date the court grants preliminary approval to the settlement.
For the purposes of the proposed deal, “weighted goods” is defined as variable weight meat, poultry, pork and seafood products labeled with price embedded bar codes, bearing certain UPCs, and designated by Walmart as part of its Department 93 products. Court documents note that, at times, “weighted goods” nearing their expiration dates may have been labeled with a yellow sticker stating a discounted “You Pay!” price. For the settlement, “bagged citrus” is defined as organic oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and navel oranges sold in bulk in mesh or plastic bags and bearing certain UPCs.
Consumers who submit a valid claim for compensation can receive up to $25 cash without proof of purchase or up to $500 with documentation of their covered purchases, court documents state.
Per settlement documents, Walmart customers who “are likely to have purchased” weighted goods and bagged citrus will receive direct notice about the settlement, should it be approved. Attorneys told the court that Walmart currently expects “tens of millions” of consumers to receive direct emailed notice about the settlement.
Attorneys told the court that the settlement was reached after more than six months of intense negotiation and multiple mediation sessions, and that the deal amounts to “an excellent outcome” for proposed class members.
In August 2020, Walmart agreed to pay up to $9.5 million to settle a proposed class action case filed in Florida over similar allegations related to weighted beef, pork, poultry, fish and other packaged goods purportedly close to their expiration dates. The claims deadline for that settlement expired on January 8, 2021.
ClassAction.org will update this page if and when the proposed settlement receives preliminary approval from the court and when the official settlement website, http://www.walmartweightedgroceriessettlement.com/, goes live.
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A proposed class action alleges Walmart has systemically overcharged consumers nationwide by falsely inflating product weights, mislabeling the weight of bagged produce, and inflating the price of sold-by-weight clearance and seafood products.
Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.
The 84-page case was filed by a Tampa, Florida consumer who in 2019 filed a proposed class action that alleged Walmart had advertised false unit prices for packaged meat and fish that were close to their expiration dates. That lawsuit was settled in 2020 for $9.5 million.
The instant suit alleges Walmart’s “unfair and deceptive business practices” are driven by the mega retailer’s point-of-sale (POS) software, which is allegedly programmed to “falsify weights, unit prices and ultimate product prices.”
“Plaintiff’s experiences and counsel’s investigation reveal that the frequency and consistent pattern of the falsification practices are not mere errors,” the complaint states. “Rather, they are symptomatic of a programmed fraudulent scheme.”
When Walmart employees have been confronted with “evidence of the overcharges,” the lawsuit says, they are unable to explain how weight falsification and unit pricing manipulation could have happened, and cannot correct the weight and/or pricing information at check-out. Other times, Walmart employees attempted to, often unsuccessfully, “override” the POS, while others have “acknowledged instances of prior improper pricing” and expressed fear that they would be fired if they “acknowledged the wrongful pricing conduct,” the complaint says.
According to the suit, Walmart has run afoul of several state consumer protection statutes. Included in the complaint are numerous pictures that include product price stickers and receipts, purporting to show that the plaintiff was overcharged at the register at Walmart.
Ultimately, the information on product price stickers and customer receipts don’t add up, the suit claims:
Like most grocery stores, the case says, Walmart advertises the price of its products using a “Rollback” or yellow price tag sticker displayed on or near an item, often affixed to the store shelf on which the product sits. Typically, Walmart’s price stickers include an abbreviated description of the product, its retail price and its unit price, i.e., the price per ounce or per pound, the suit states.
As the complaint tells it, Walmart’s price stickers are integral to consumers’ buying decisions, as they’re relied upon to clearly and accurately convey, and “not mislead or deceive about,” product pricing.
As a result of Walmart’s conduct, at the register, customers do not end up paying the lowest advertised price for sold-by-weight products, the case alleges.
The lawsuit looks to represent consumers nationwide who bought sold-by-weight products, bagged produce and/or clearance products from or at Walmart in the United States, within the applicable statutes of limitations, and paid higher prices for the products than advertised on their Rollback sticker, price sticker and/or yellow sticker.
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