EAST ST. LOUIS – Coffee drinker Linda Suchanek of St. Clair County stands to collect $10,000 as leader of a class action her late son in law Randy Gori filed.
Payments will flow to her and eight coffee drinkers in other states if Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel approves a $25 million settlement.
Plaintiffs sued Sturm Foods, maker of Grove Square brewing packages, in 2011.
They claimed they bought frozen coffee thinking they bought fresh coffee.
Last year, at a conference a week before trial, Rosenstengel struggled to stay patient and at last told the parties she wanted this case to go away.
After three failures at mediation in two years, they settled in six days.
Rosenstengel granted preliminary approval in October and set a fairness hearing this Tuesday, April 21.
The original judge on the case tried to make it to go away in a different way.
Patrick Murphy, a class action lawyer before and after his years as district judge, poked holes in the case while judge at a class certification hearing in April 2013.
Attorney Todd Matthews appeared for the Gori firm but didn’t argue, leaving that to Patrick Cooper of Birmingham, Alabama.
Murphy said, “Wouldn’t it be the case that for every person who used this twice, that person would then be disqualified?”
Cooper disputed that and distinguished instant from ground.
“Instant coffee, you don’t brew,” Cooper said. “Ground coffee is brewed.”
Murphy said, “You pour some hot water in it. You steam it. Who says that’s not brewing coffee?”
He asked the cost, and Cooper said 66 cents per cup for a 12 pack.
Murphy wondered about calculating damages for a consumer and said, “Did she drink the whole cup or did she wretch when she took the first drink…Did she get her buzz or did she not get her buzz?”
He denied class certification in August 2013, finding individual questions predominated over common questions.
He found insufficient evidence of an extensive advertising campaign such that presumption of exposure was appropriate.
He found no plaintiff was exposed to Sturm’s online marketing.
He expressed doubt that there was much difference between instant and ground when the product in either case was a small package of powder.
Suchanek moved for reconsideration, Sturm Foods moved for summary judgment, and Murphy ruled for Sturm Foods on both motions.
Seventh Circuit appellate judges reversed him in 2014, finding a common question of whether the package was likely to mislead a reasonable consumer.
Murphy had returned to private practice by then.
Rosenstengel took charge and certified a class action for eight states in 2015.
She found plenty of evidence that consumers would not have purchased Grove Square coffee but for its deceptive label.
She found it entirely possible that Grove Square coffee was worthless.
Sturm Foods moved to decertify the class in 2017, alleging deficiencies in an expert’s report on damages.
At a hearing, Cooper said, “These plaintiffs bought the product, tried one cup, and then threw it in the trash. Nobody used any more.”
Rosenstengel denied the motion.
In 2018, she ruled that she would conduct two jury trials.
The first would determine deception and the second would determine loss, proximate cause and damages.
She set trial last May 10.
At a conference on May 3, she said, “I have a high level of frustration with this case right now because of the number of things that have been filed and the seemingly unreasonable responses to what has been filed.
“Even when we agree, we go off on a tangent on to some other issue that doesn’t have anything to do with anything.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why y’all can’t get along.
“You can’t even agree on something as simple as a final pretrial order.”
Rosenstengel said she had six pages, “whining about who did what and when and how.”
“I don’t usually lose my patience but I’m about this close to taking the entire case off the trial docket,” she said.
“This isn’t like a life or death case. We’re talking about coffee cups.
“The trial is going to be a spectacle and you know what’s going to happen? It’s going to go on for months. It’s going to go to the court of appeals.
“Anybody who was pissed off about instant coffee in their K-cup eight years ago has probably gotten over it.”
Cooper said, “It’s interesting because we are going to have live witnesses from eight years ago who are still angry.”
Rosenstengel said her frustration wasn’t with the work but the ridiculousness of the responses and the volume.
“So, I will get looking at it,” she said. “I want this case to go away.”
It went, for $25 million.
According to a motion Cooper filed for final approval on April 9, firms of 13 lawyers would divide $8,325,000 in fees and $494,195 in expense reimbursement.
The Gori firm’s portion would cover the work of Gori, Matthews, Chelsea Fischer, and Megan Arvola.
Suchanek, mother of Beth Gori who now leads the firm, and seven other plaintiffs would receive $10,000 each, and Alabama plaintiff Richard McManus would get $25,000.
Claims oversubscribed the remaining $16,075,195, according to Cooper.
He wrote that the administrator received 304,846 claim forms as of April 3, and the deadline for filing claim forms is May 7.
That indicates an average value near $50.
Cooper wrote that the administrator would apply a reduction across all categories.
Everyone will get at least $10, he wrote.