If you purchased certain groceries from Walmart in recent years, you may be eligible for up to $500 in cash as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit but you have to act soon. The deadline to submit a claim is June 5. The lawsuit alleges Walmart overcharged customers who purchased certain sold-by-weight products, including poultry, pork and seafood, and certain organic oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and navel oranges sold in bulk in mesh or plastic bags. Walmart denies any wrongdoing but agreed to pay affected customers $45 million in the settlement.
Are you wondering if you are among the Walmart shoppers who are eligible for a payment? Given that according to data from Numerator, a market research company, 38 percent of Walmart shoppers in the U.S. are baby boomers, 31 percent are Gen X, 25 percent are millennials and 7 percent are Gen Z, chances are you could be. Read on to find out.
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What happened?
The class action lawsuit alleges Walmart engaged in three deceptive tactics that resulted in customers paying more than the sticker price for meats, poultry, seafood and certain produce. According to the lawsuit, when customers checked out, Walmart’s point-of-sale system “artificially” increased the weight of the product, resulting in an overpayment. The lawsuit also alleges Walmart mislabeled the weight of bagged organic oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and navel oranges so that they were “materially more” than the actual weight of the bag. Walmart also allegedly overcharged the sticker price on certain sold-by-weight clearance products.
“Walmart’s conduct is systemic and driven by its POS System and software that is programmed to falsify weights and, thus, overcharge the customer for the products,” the lawsuit argued. “Plaintiff’s experiences and counsel’s investigation reveal that the frequency and consistent pattern of the falsification practices are not mere errors. Rather, they are symptomatic of a programmed fraudulent scheme.”
What is Walmart saying?
Walmart denies the plaintiff’s allegations and denies “any and all wrongdoing or liability” with respect to the claims asserted in the lawsuit. Walmart noted that neither the court nor a jury considered or decided the merits of the allegations in the lawsuit. Instead, Walmart decided to settle to avoid the costs and risks of a trial.
Who is eligible for a payment?
All shoppers who purchased weighted goods and/or bagged citrus in person at a Walmart retail store, supercenter or neighborhood market in the U.S. or Puerto Rico from Oct. 19, 2018, through and including Jan. 19, 2024, may be eligible for a cash payment.
