Rodman v. Safeway Inc.

United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Civil Action No. 11-cv-03003-JST

This case relates to a class action on behalf of shoppers who registered for Safeway’s online grocery delivery service before November 15, 2011, and made purchases from April 2010, through December 21, 2014 that were subject to an undisclosed price markup. Plaintiff and the lawyers who prosecuted the case obtained a $42 million judgment represented the full amount of the challenged markup plus interest. The Court approved the Plan of Distribution, awarded attorneys’ fees, and in 2018 the Judgment Administrator mailed class members checks representing about 98% of the unlawful markup paid by each class member.

On December 14, 2020, Plaintiff and Class Counsel filed a Motion with the Court seeking permission to make a second distribution to class members who cashed their initial judgment distribution checks. On November 24, 2021, the Court ordered that funds remaining in the settlement account be redistributed to Class Members who cashed their initial distribution check up to the total allocation of each Class Member’s individual Overcharge and Pre- and Post-judgment interest. A copy of the Order is available on the “Important Documents” page of this website.

The Administrator will be mailing checks to Class Members who have cashed their initial distribution checks in January of 2022.

IRS guidelines require that any interest payment in excess of $599.99 must be reported by the Judgment Administrator on a form 1099-INT. If you are estimated to receive $600.00 or more in interest, you will need to provide the Judgement Administrator an IRS Form W9. The Judgment Administrator is required to verify that the information on the form W9 is accurate. If you do not provide a W9 with verifiable information the pre- and post-judgment interest portion of your award will be capped at $599.99.

In the event that your payment of interest is $600.00 or more and a valid W9 is not on file for you, an online W9 portal will remain available on the settlement website for you to complete and submit a W9 electronically and to claim any additional interest that was allocated to you. You will have 45 Days after checks are mailed to submit a valid W9. Such class members may complete a W9 online by following this Link. They may also download a PDF version of the W9 form from the Important documents page of this website or by searching for the form on the IRS website, www.IRS.gov and mail it to the Judgment Administrator at:

Safeway Judgment Administrator
Attn: Tax Team
1650 Arch St., Suite 2210
Philadelphia, PA 19103

The information received will be kept confidential and used for verification and tax reporting purposes only. The information will not be shared with any third party.

All funds remaining after this distribution will be donated to Meals on Wheels.

If you have moved or have a different email address since you received your initial distribution check, please provide updated information to the Judgment Administrator by email addressed to SafewayJudgment@administratorclassaction.com or by sending a letter, first class mail to:

Safeway Judgment Administrator
Attn: Address Update
1650 Arch Street
Suite 2210
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Your Claim Number is included in all correspondence from the Judgment Administrator, please include your Claim number in any correspondence with the Judgment Administrator. This will help to expedite the review and reissue process and ensure ant submission is associated with the proper record.

Plaintiff Michael Rodman filed this lawsuit in June 2011. He alleged that Safeway, Vons and Genuardis (collectively “Safeway”) breached their online grocery delivery terms and conditions by charging more than the prices charged for the same items in the store from which they were delivered on the day of delivery. Specifically, Safeway added a markup equal to about 10% of the in-store price of most non-Club Card items ordered for delivery.

Please note, the lawsuit challenged the markup as applied: (1) only to customers who registered before November 15, 2011; and (2) only to orders placed from April 2010, through December 21, 2014. Therefore, any markups which Safeway applied or continues to apply to any orders placed after December 21, 2014 are not part of this lawsuit.

The Court ruled in March 2014 that this case should proceed as a class action, and in November 2015 the Court entered a Judgment against Safeway for 100% of the markup at issue after deduction for returns/refunds, plus interest. Safeway appealed. In August 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Judgment.