$45 Million Settlement In Walmart’s Weighted Grocery Class Action

(CTN News) – A class action lawsuit alleging Walmart allowed customers to buy certain weighted groceries for more than the lowest in-store advertised price has been settled for $45 million.

Those who purchased weighted goods and bagged citrus at a Walmart store between Oct. 19, 2018, and Jan. 19, 2024 are included in the settlement class.

“Weighted goods” refer to variable-weight meat, poultry, pork, and seafood products labeled with a price-embedded bar code and designated by Walmart as part of its Department 93 products, while “bagged citrus” refers to organic oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and navel oranges packaged in mesh or plastic bags sold in bulk.

When marked at a discounted “Rollback” price, Walmart’s point-of-sale machines artificially raised the weight of the weighted goods, which caused the total price to exceed the advertised discount.

Additionally, the superstore is alleged to have advertised and promoted bagged produce weights that exceeded their actual weight, meaning that customers paid more per ounce. On clearance products with a reduced-price sticker, the advertised per-pound price and the final price paid by the customer differed.

It operates hypermarkets and grocery stores across the United States under the Walmart brand. The number of Walmart stores in the United States reached 4,622 in January 2024.

Despite denials of wrongdoing on the part of the company, the settlement has been reached to resolve the issues.

A cash payment may be made to class members as part of the Walmart weighted grocery settlement.

A claimant who is approved but does not have a receipt or proof of purchase may certify that they purchased a certain amount of weighted goods or produce for a set amount of money. The claimant who attests to purchasing one to fifty products will receive $10; the claimant who attests to buying 51 to 75 products will receive $15; the claimant who attests to purchasing 76 to 100 products will receive $20; and the claimant who attests to purchasing 101 or more products will receive $25.

Claimants with receipts or proof of purchase are eligible to receive 2% of the cost of the substantiated weighted goods and bagged citrus products purchased. A copy of the claimant’s receipts may be obtained from Walmart’s website.

The amount due to claimants will be decreased in proportion to the amount in the net settlement fund if the amount due to claimants exceeds the amount in the net settlement fund.

Opting out of or objecting to the settlement has a deadline of May 22, 2024. Walmart weighted groceries settlement will be finalized on June 12, 2024.

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