Back in 2013, a class action lawsuit was filed because Starkist was underfilling the tuna cans. Back then, those that filed a claim were promised we'd receive approximately either a cash payment of $25, or $50 in product vouchers redeemable for StarKist tuna products. Of course, that was contingent on how many filed a claim. That amount was estimated for only 200,000 claims.
The problem was that the news of the lawsuit went viral all over social media. So, pretty much anyone who'd ever eaten a can of tuna wanted in as one could file their claim online. We didn't even need receipts or to provide proof we'd ever bought a can of Starkist Tuna. So the claims jumped up to two and a half million instead of 200,000.
And as a PP said, only the lawyers working on the lawsuit made any real money.
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"The case dates back to 2013, when California consumer Patrick Hendricks sued StarKist, accusing it of underfilling 5-ounce cans of tuna. StarKist eventually agreed to settle the case, inviting any shopper who had purchased any of the affected varieties of its products to file a claim “for either a cash payment of $25, or $50 in product vouchers redeemable for StarKist tuna products”.
That was in 2015.
Thanks to the promise of a big payout (“Free money!” many blogs and local news stories proclaimed), the claim form went viral. And that caused problems that are still being worked out today.
StarKist set aside enough money to cover up to 200,000 claims. Instead, more than two and a half million people submitted claims for cash or coupons. So it took a while for the overwhelmed parties to the settlement to work out the details. And they’re still working on them.
Settlement administrator KCC Class Action Services is now looking for a larger piece of the pie – for itself. In a motion filed with the court last week, KCC is requesting an August hearing on its request for a larger administrative fee – with some of that money coming out of the settlement fund and, therefore, out of your pocket.
Either way, the fact that the hearing may not be held until this fall [Sept] means it will be that much longer before you get anything at all from StarKist.
“The viral nature of this settlement caused the scope of work to expand far beyond the initial projections,” KCC told the court. “This will result in increased costs and expenses” associated with sending out many more checks and coupons than KCC had budgeted for.
So KCC is asking the court for an additional payment of $618,308, which will come out of the settlement fund – and, therefore, reduce the amount of money available for consumers.
But those amounts won’t be very much anyway.
According to details of the settlement worked out earlier this year, claimants who chose a cash payment are eligible to receive $2.74 – far less than the “cash payment of $25” they thought they’d get. Those who chose the coupons will receive $5.03 worth of coupons – far less than the “$50 in product vouchers” they had hoped for.
That’s because of the fine print on the claim form that most people overlooked. “These claim amounts may be subject to pro rata dilution if the total amount of claims exceeds the available settlement funds,” the form read.
“This case received far more publicity than usual, and… several of those reports mistakenly told consumers that by filing a claim each consumer who filed a claim could expect to receive between $25 and $50,” KCC told the court.
That’s why two and a half million people signed on, and why two and a half million people are likely to be disappointed in what they get – whenever they actually get it."