Shoppers walk to a Walmart in Vernon Hills in this 2023 file photo.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
The deadline is approaching for shoppers to file a claim in a class-action suit against Walmart for its sale of some weighted groceries and bagged citrus fruit.
The claims stem from the lawsuit filed in October 2022, accusing Walmart of overcharging customers who bought some sold-by-weight groceries, including meat, poultry, pork, seafood and certain organic oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and navel oranges sold in bulk.
The suit said Walmart charged customers more than the lowest in-store advertised price for those items.
As part of a $45 million settlement, agreed on in principle last Sept. 18, shoppers who bought groceries between Oct. 19, 2018, and this past Jan. 19 could get as much as $500.
How to submit a claim
People who bought eligible products and have a receipt “will be entitled to receive 2% of the total cost of the substantiated weighted goods and bagged citrus purchased, capped at” $500, according to the settlement website.
You have to submit a claim by June 5 to be included in the settlement. Anyone who wants to be excluded from the settlement and pursue a claim individually has until May 22 to opt out.
Shoppers who don’t have a receipt can still submit a claim for a payment between $10 and $25, depending on how many products they attest to having bought. You might be able to get past receipts on Walmart’s website.
People who do nothing won’t be able to pursue individual claims against Walmart over “the alleged facts, circumstances and occurrences underlying the claims set forth in the Litigation,” according to the settlement agreement.
A final approval hearing on the settlement is set for June 12.
Even though the retailer agreed to a settlement, Walmart denies any wrongdoing, saying, “We still deny the allegations; however we believe a settlement is in the best interest of both parties.”
Read more at USA Today.