Dahl Administration Announces Class Action Settlement in the Gay, et al. v. Tom's of Maine, Inc. Litigation

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit about the packaging and advertising of Tom's of Maine products.  The plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that Tom's of Maine mislabeled its Products by describing them as "natural."  Tom's of Maine denies all the plaintiffs' allegations and is entering into this settlement to avoid burdensome and costly litigation.  The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.

Am I a Class Member? You are a Class Member if you bought at least one of the Tom's of Maine Covered Products from March 25, 2009 through September 23, 2015, for individual or household use and not for resale.  Excluded from the Class are Tom's of Maine and its board members, officers, and attorneys; governmental entities; the Court presiding over the settlement; those with claims for personal injuries, and those persons who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class.

What Can I Get From the Settlement? A fund of $4.5 million will be created to pay Class Members for a portion of the cost of Covered Products they purchased, for notice and claim administration costs and attorneys' fees and expenses.  Tom's will also make changes to the labels for the Tom's of Maine products and to its website.

Settlement Class Members may submit a properly completed and timely filed Claim Form and be eligible to receive a cash refund of up to $28.  These awards may be subject to pro rata upward or downward adjustment depending on the number of claims approved.  A detailed Class Notice and copies of the Claim Form are available at www.TomsProductsClassAction.com or by calling 1-888-897-9554.

What are My Options? To ask for a cash payment and stay in the Class, you must send in a Claim Form by May 7, 2016.  If you do not wish to participate in the settlement, you may exclude yourself from the Class by December 29, 2015.  The detailed notice available at www.TomsProductsClassAction.com or by calling 1-888-897-9554 explains how to exclude yourself from the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you can't get money from this settlement if it is approved.  If you're a Class Member, you may object to any part of the settlement you don't like, and the Court will consider your views. Your objection must be timely, in writing and must provide evidence of your membership in the Class.  Procedures for submitting objections are set out in the detailed notice available at www.TomsProductsClassAction.com or by calling 1-888-897-9554.

The Court will hold a Final Fairness Hearing at 11:00 a.m. on January 28, 2016 in Miami, Florida.  At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and whether to approve the Class Representatives' incentive awards of up to $2,000 each and attorneys' fees up to $1,035,000.00 and expenses not to exceed $50,000.00.  You may attend the hearing, and you may hire your own lawyer, but you are not required to do either.  The Court will consider timely written objections and will listen to people who have made a prior written request to speak at the hearing.  After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. 

What If I Have Questions? This Notice is just a summary.  Detailed notice, as well as the Settlement Agreement and other documents filed in this lawsuit, can be found online at www.TomsProductsClassAction.com.  For more information, you may call or write to the Settlement Administrator at 1-888-897-9554, Tom's of Maine Settlement, c/o Dahl Administration, P.O. Box 3614, Minneapolis, MN 55403-0614 or [email protected].

QUESTIONS? CALL 1-888-897-9554 or VISIT www.TomsProductsClassAction.com 

MEDIA: Jeff Dahl, 952-562-3601

SOURCE Dahl Administration, LLC

Related Links

http://www.tomsproductsclassaction.com