Plaintiffs Against DFA Seek Release of Sealed Documents to Public
Source: Plaintiffs’ Attorneys
Attorneys representing Northeast dairy farmers in their class action antitrust lawsuit against the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Dairy Marketing Services (DMS) have filed motions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont asking the Court to unseal and make case records available to the public and seeking Court approval to send out notices to inform thousands of dairy farmers about the details of a $30 million settlement with Dean Foods Company, the other defendant in the case.
The plaintiffs allege that DFA and DMS are misinforming dairy farmers about the merits of the case—while simultaneously restricting access to relevant documentation on the basis of a protective order entered in the case. In litigation in the Southeast, a federal judge stated that DFA and the other defendants “have insisted” on a protective order that “shields a large volume of documents related to the issues raised by this case from public view and from the view of the putative class members.” DFA and DMS have indicated that they will oppose plaintiffs’ motion to open case records.
The proposed settlement includes a $30 million settlement payment by Dean and injunctive relief that calls for Dean to offer to purchase a portion of its raw milk from multiple Northeast sources. According to Benjamin Brown, an attorney at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, which represents the plaintiffs, if the Court were to grant preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, notice would go out to the class of Northeast dairy farmers who could be eligible to file a claim for monetary damages. Litigation would continue against DFA and DMS.
DFA is the largest dairy cooperative in the nation. The plaintiff’s lawsuit, filed in 2009, accuses DFA, and its marketing arm DMS, of engaging in monopolization, price-fixing and other agreements not to compete in the market for fluid milk in the Northeastern United States. Local dairy farmers were then forced to join DFA – and accept reduced prices for their raw milk – simply to survive.
According to Alice Allen, a Vermont dairy farmer and one of the plaintiffs in the case, “These motions are seeking to open up the record and educate farmers about the settlement so that farmers can make up their own minds about the facts and the benefits of the settlement.”
For more information about the case, visit www.cohenmilstein.com.
