It has been more than three years since Progressive Law Group filed a class action lawsuit against Menu foods with Jackie Johnson as the representative client. About 550 people signed up as clients behind her lawsuit, and more than 100 other class action lawsuits were filed against Menu Foods and pet food merchandisers.
Federal courts consolidated the many cases that had been filed, and directed all the cases into a single court in New Jersey. After investigation and negotiation, a settlement was proposed to the court. In class actions, the court has to independently decide if a proposed settlement is fair. The court approved the settlement in November of 2008.
Progressive Law Group’s clients were contacted with instructions about how to file a claim, and filed claims. However, years have now passed without payouts. Clients who filed claims call regularly wondering what happened with the matter. Going without the payout is particularly difficult for persons who are in hard financial circumstances.
If the settlement had gone unchallenged, payouts would have begun shortly after settlement. However appeals were filed challenging the settlement. Because the legitimacy of the settlement has been placed into question before a higher court, claims cannot be paid.
If an appeal is successful, then the case will return to the status it was in before settlement, and will involve additional litigation that could go on for a very long time. It was, in part, the prospect of extended litigation that led to settlement.
Although we recognize that the delay in payouts has been terribly difficult for many of our clients, we cannot influence how fast higher courts are able to take up and decide cases such as the appeals of the pet food settlement.
When there is a resolution, we expect that clients will be notified by the Administrator designated to independently process claims (we cannot influence them one way or another). You can also watch our website.
To verify that a claim you may have made has been received, or to more closely track events, you can go to www.petfoodsettlement.com.
Chicago Office Madison Office
505 N. LaSalle Blvd. Ste. 350 354 W. Main Street
Chicago, Illinois 60654 Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Tel. (312) 787-2717 Tel. (608) 258-8511