Smith v. Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit about the labeling and advertising of K Cup® single serving coffee pods labeled as recyclable. The Plaintiffs in the case being settled allege that the packaging and advertising for these products misled consumers to believe that the Products were widely recyclable. Defendant Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. (“Keurig”) denies all the Plaintiffs’ allegations and is entering into this Settlement to avoid burdensome and costly litigation. The Settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. The Court has not decided who is right and who is wrong.
You are a member of the Class if you purchased K Cup® single serving coffee pods labeled as recyclable in the United States for personal, family or household purposes during the time period from June 8, 2016, through August 8, 2022. The K Cup® single serve coffee pods labeled as recyclable at issue in the litigation are referred to as the “Challenged Products.”
The following Persons are excluded from the Settlement Class: (a) Keurig; (b) Keurig’s Affiliates (as further defined in the Settlement), (c) the officers, directors, or employees of Keurig and its Affiliates and their immediate family; (d) any legal representative, heir, or assign of Keurig; (e) all federal court judges who have presided over this Action and their immediate family members; (f) the Hon. Morton Denlow (Ret.) and his immediate family members; (g) all Persons who submit a valid and timely Request for Exclusion from the Class; and (h) those who purchased the Challenged Products for the purpose of resale.
Keurig will not represent that K Cup® pods are recyclable without clearly and prominently including the following qualifying statement: “Check Locally – Not Recycled in Many Communities.” Keurig must also increase the font size of its qualifying statement on all labels and packaging.
Keurig will pay a total of $10 million in cash for payment of approved Class Member claims, certain notice and administrative costs, incentive awards to the named Plaintiffs, and attorneys’ fees and costs. If you purchased one or more Challenged Products, you are eligible to receive a Cash Payment. The amount to which you may be eligible will depend on the statements in your Claim Form. Details are provided below.
You must return a Claim Form to receive a Cash Payment under the Settlement. A copy of the Claim Form is available on this website, or by calling 1-833-620-3588.
Cash Payments
A. No Proof of Purchase – $5 per Household
If you elect to receive the Cash Payment and do not have any proof of purchase, such as a receipt, you may be eligible to receive $5 per Household.
B. With Proof of Purchase – $36 Maximum Payment
If you elect to receive the Cash Payment and have proof of purchase, you are eligible to receive $3.50 per 100 pods purchased. The maximum Cash Payment is $36 per Household and the minimum total payment is $6 if you have proof of purchase for your purchases.
You do not need to submit proof of purchase if you are submitting a claim for Challenged Products. However, you will receive a minimum of $6 and may be eligable to receive up to $36 if you have proof of purchase, such as receipts, email order or shipping confirmations.
The Claim Form is simple and easy to complete.
The Claim Form requires that you provide:
• Your name, mailing address, and other contact information; AND
• Your signature, under penalty of perjury, confirming that the information provided is true and correct; AND
• If filing a claim with proof of purchase, a receipt or receipts showing each Challenged Product purchase on which the claim is based, or other similar documentation that reflects an eligible purchase (i.e., email order or shipping confirmations).
Please return a Claim Form if you think that you have a claim. Returning a Claim Form is the only way to receive a payment from this Settlement. No claimant or Household may submit more than one Claim Form, and two or more claimants may not submit Claim Forms for the same alleged purchases or Household.
The Claim Administrator may request additional information if the Claim Form is insufficient to process your claim. Failure to provide any requested documentation may result in the denial of your claim and may limit the type of remedy you receive.
You must file your claim, so that it is postmarked or submitted online no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on January 9, 2023.
The Claim Forms will be reviewed by an independent Claim Administrator according to criteria agreed to by the parties.
The Claim Administrator may contact you or other Persons listed in your Claim Form if he or she needs additional information or otherwise wants to verify information in your Claim Form.
The Claim Administrator’s determination is final. Neither you nor Keurig can appeal or contest the decision of the Claim Administrator.
The Court will hold a hearing on December 8, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. PT to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. It is always uncertain how long these appeals will take to resolve, but resolving them can take more than a year.
If the total amount of cash claims, certain notice and administrative costs, incentive awards to the named Plaintiffs, and attorneys’ fees and costs exceeds the cash balance, all Approved Claims for Cash Payments will be reduced pro rata, based on the respective dollar amounts of the Approved Claims, until the total aggregate of Approved Claims equals the cash balance.
If, after everyone sends in Claim Forms, the total of all Approved Claims, certain notice and administrative costs, incentive awards to the named Plaintiffs, and attorneys’ fees and costs are less than the cash balance, the unused money will be donated to the Ocean Conservancy (75%) and Consumer Reports, Inc. (25%), nonprofit foundations that will use the funds in a manner that best serves the needs of the Class. Such funds will not be returned to Keurig.
You must return a Claim Form to receive any payment. If you do nothing, you will get no money from the Settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Keurig or any affiliated entities about the legal issues in this case.
If you do not wish to be included in the Class and receive Settlement benefits, you must send a written request stating that you want to be excluded from this lawsuit. In order for your exclusion request to be valid, it must: (1) contain your name, current postal address, current telephone number, any email address, and your original signature; (b) reference the name of the Action, “Smith v. Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., Case No. 4:18-CV-06690-HSG;” and (c) be postmarked no later than October 24, 2022, and mailed to:
If you asked to be excluded, you will not get any Settlement payment, and you cannot object to the Settlement. You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit. You may be able to sue (or continue to sue) Keurig or any affiliated entity in the future.
If you have a pending lawsuit against Keurig, speak to your lawyer immediately. You may need to exclude yourself from this lawsuit in order to continue your own lawsuit. Remember, the exclusion deadline is October 24, 2022.
The Court appointed the Lexington Law Group and Shapiro Haber & Urmy to represent you and the other Class Members. These lawyers are called Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
Class Counsel will ask the Court to award them attorneys’ fees and expenses. Class Counsel will make an application to the Court for an amount up to $3,000,000 in attorneys’ fees, plus their out-of-pocket expenses.
One of the named Plaintiffs, Kathleen Smith, will also ask the Court to award her an amount not to exceed $5,000 for her time and effort acting as Plaintiff and for her willingness to bring this litigation and act on behalf of consumers. One of the named Plaintiffs, Matthew Downing, will ask the Court to award him an amount not to exceed $1,000 for his time and effort acting as a Plaintiff and for his willingness to bring this litigation and act on behalf of consumers. These amounts, if approved by the Court, will be paid from the Claim Fund.
If you are a Class Member, you can object to the Settlement if you do not like any part of it and the Court will consider your views. In order for your objection to be valid, you must send a letter to the Court and the Parties and it must reference the name of the Action, “Smith v. Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., Case No. 4:18-CV-06690-HSG (N.D. California),” and contain: (a) your name, current postal address, current telephone number, and any email address; and if represented by counsel, the name and email address of your counsel; (b) a written statement of all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for such objection; (c) a written statement whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either with or without counsel; (d) a statement under penalty of perjury that you purchased Keurig K Cup® Pods labeled as “Recyclable” that are at issue in the litigation in the United States during the during the time period of June 8, 2016 through August 8, 2022, including all other information required in a Claim Form; and (e) a detailed list of any other objections submitted by you, or your counsel, to any class actions submitted in any court in the United States in the past five (5) years. If you or your counsel have not objected to any other class action settlement in the United States in the past five (5) years, you must state so. This objection must be postmarked no later than October 24, 2022. Send your objection to:
Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Class or the lawsuit. You cannot request an exclusion and object to the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.
If the Court approves the proposed Settlement and you do not request to be excluded from the Class, you must release (give up) all claims that are subject to the Released Claims, and the case will be dismissed on the merits and with prejudice. The Released Claims include all claims that were or could have been raised based on the facts alleged in the lawsuit. A copy of the release is located in the Stipulation of Settlement, which can be found on this website. If you remain in the Class, you may not assert any of those claims in any other lawsuit or proceeding. This includes any other lawsuit or proceeding already in progress.
The Judge will hold a Final Approval Hearing at 2:00 p.m. PT on December 8, 2022, at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612, in Courtroom 2 on the 4th Floor (It is possible that the Judge will decide to hold the hearing by Zoom or teleconference). At this hearing, the Judge will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. If there are objections, the Judge will consider them. The Judge will listen to Class Members who have asked to speak at the hearing. Any Class Member wishing to be heard orally with respect to approval of the Settlement is required to provide written notice of his or her intention to appear at the Final Approval Hearing no later than October 24, 2022.
After the hearing, the Judge will decide whether to approve the Settlement. We do not know how long this decision will take.
No. Class Counsel will answer questions the Judge may have; however, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you submit an objection, you do not have to come to the Court to talk about it. As long as you delivered your written objection on time, the Judge will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it is not necessary.
More details are in the Stipulation of Settlement. You can get a copy of the Stipulation of Settlement by writing to Smith v. Keurig Green Mountain, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391 or by viewing the Stipulation of Settlement on this website.
If you have questions about how to complete a Claim Form, you can call the Claim Administrator at 1-833-620-3588. You can also contact attorneys for the Class at www.lexlawgroup.com.
PLEASE DO NOT CALL OR WRITE THE COURT FOR INFORMATION OR ADVICE
Keurig.com consumers can access their purchase history by visiting Keurig.com and logging into their accounts.
Amazon.com customers can access their purchase history by visiting www.amazon.com and signing into their account.
Go to Download Order Reports, under Ordering and shopping preferences in Your Account. Select the report type from the dropdown menu. Fill the start date, end date, and report time. Be sure to include the date of your Keurig purchase(s). Then click Request Report. When the report is complete, you'll receive an email notification.
To retrieve the report, visit the Download Order Reports and select Download.
Costco customers can access their purchase history by visiting www.costco.com and logging into their account. Once logged in, select Orders & Purchases and select the time period you want to view. Be sure to include the date of the Keurig purchase(s). Right click and save for your records.
Walmart customers can access their purchase history by visiting www.walmart.com and logging into their account. Once logged in, select Account and then select Purchase History. Locate your Keurig Order and right click and save for your records.
