When you shopped at Trader Joe’s in mid-2019, you’ve got till Tuesday to file a declare to be included in a $7.4 million class action lawsuit introduced towards the favored grocery chain. However be forewarned: Qualifying for the settlement isn’t so simple.
The settlement, introduced earlier this yr, stems from a lawsuit first introduced in 2019 by plaintiff Brian Keim, who alleged that Dealer Joe’s had violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). Although the Monrovia, California-based grocer has denied his claims it agreed to a settlement associated to a roughly 18-week interval between March and July 2019 when Dealer Joe’s stated the cost processing software program triggered some receipts at choose areas to show the primary six and final 4 digits of shoppers’ credit score or debit card numbers.
Within the years because the plaintiff first sued the corporate, Dealer Joe’s stated in a court filing that no clients have reported that they’ve been the sufferer of id theft associated to the conduct alleged within the case. That stated, id theft isn’t required to show a FACTA declare.
WHO QUALIFIES FOR A PAYOUT
Whereas you could have shopped at Dealer Joe’s between March 5 and July 19, 2019, solely a really restricted variety of clients will qualify for a settlement payout.
The plaintiff’s authorized crew notified 757,663 folks by e-mail or postcard that they have been flagged as probably affected—although a declare should nonetheless be submitted to qualify. When you occur to have some previous Dealer Joe’s receipts mendacity round from that interval, that could be one other method to qualify.
Affected clients can file a declare on-line via the settlement website. Dealer Joe’s loyalists who aren’t positive whether or not they’re included may additionally name the settlement hotline at 1-888-444-7415.
HOW MUCH CUSTOMERS WILL RECEIVE
Multimillion-dollar class motion lawsuits could get some clients enthusiastic about potential payouts, however the quantities could typically appear fairly meager—even in a case with fairly restricted scope. The per-person payout for the Dealer Joe’s settlement is estimated to be $102.45.
However the actual determine will depend upon how many individuals file claims and the way a lot cash is left after authorized charges and administrative prices are deducted. Keim, the plaintiff, will obtain $10,000, in keeping with court filings.
The settlement should finally be authorized by a court docket, and a listening to is ready for August 10. Funds must be despatched out inside 10 enterprise days after the choose grants closing approval of the settlement.
TRADER JOE’S AND CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS
Court docket filings word that Dealer Joe’s “vigorously denies any and all legal responsibility or wrongdoing,” noting that it by no means willfully, negligently, or knowingly triggered the receipt printing challenge. The corporate didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Quick Firm.
Dealer Joe’s has beforehand been the topic of some completely different class motion lawsuits lately concerning claims of false commercials of the substances of some gadgets offered in shops. Earlier this yr, clients filed a lawsuit towards the grocery store concerning caffeine ranges in its French Roast Low Acid complete bean espresso.
If it feels such as you’re listening to about increasingly class motion lawsuits—or mysteriously receiving payouts for which you didn’t file a declare—there’s been a surge within the variety of these circumstances, according to data from LexisNexis.
The variety of federal class motion filings surpassed 12,200 circumstances in 2025, a roughly 25% enhance from 2024 and the best quantity in no less than a decade, primarily based on findings within the Lex Machina 2026 Class Motion Litigation Report. And shopper safety class actions accounted for practically half of all filings over the previous decade.
What’s extra, the Dealer Joe’s class motion lawsuit is seemingly not the primary rodeo for Keim. In 2012, a person with the identical identify and dwelling in the identical Florida metropolis filed a category motion lawsuit towards a number of corporations that function Pizza Hut eating places concerning unsolicited textual content messages. That go well with finally resulted in a $6 million settlement.
