The wait is apparently over for Dean Payment #3 per the Dean Foods/SMA Settlement Agreement in the Southeast Milk Litigation to be processed.

The deadline to file an Appeal to Judge Ronnie Greer’s October 16th, 2014 “Order Authorizing the Third Distribution of Dean Settlement Funds” has now expired. In this instance, an Appeal would have been filed with the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Unless official filing documents are received via the United States Postal Service at the Sixth Circuit offices with an appropriate postmark, payments can now be processed and mailed to producers.
Per Federal Court rules, there is a 30-day time frame in which an Appeal an Order may be filed, which may occur when Motions are filed prior to the entry of an Order.

According to court documents, a dairy farmer, who had become a board member of the SMA board following the Dean/SMA Settlement which became final in June of 2012, but prior to the DFA Settlement Agreement claims deadline of March 31,2013, received the first Dean Foods Settlement payment, but was denied the DFA Settlement Payment and Dean Payment #2.

This producer had filed a Motion asking the court to reinstate his eligibility for settlement payments, given the timing of his placement on the SMA Board. A clause was in all of the Settlement Agreements declaring Board Members of all defendant Co-ops to be ineligible for payments, but this specific instance of when a board position was filled was not addressed in the original documents, and so the Motion to reinstate was filed.

Producers who filed claims directly with Rust Consulting may expect that they will receive checks within a couple of weeks. Producers who used third-party filers may take a bit longer to receive their checks.
The amount in this cycle of checks will be similar to amounts producers received in the Dean Payment 2, paid to class members in September of 2013.

As far as future payments, producers can expect to receive their monies. Thus far, the defendants have been very responsible in depositing their monies in escrow accounts by the deadlines agreed upon in the original Settlement Agreements. This process is diligently monitored by the Court.

However, each payment cycle is always subject to various court proceedings, so the timing of receipts of payments by producers may vary. Two additional Dean Settlement Payments are set to be filed, one in 2015 and one in 2016. The possibility of an additional DFA payment remains if specified utilization rates are not reached by certain deadlines.

Class members should be aware that until the final payments are made, this is an ongoing legal matter, with a number of legal filings subject to changing subsequent payment schedules.

Producers will be notified of additional developments in this historic Class Action litigation when they occur. For a history of the case, including many official court documents, interested parties may visit http://www.southeastdairyclass.com.

Litigations are just one portion of the worldwide milkshed.