Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., part of Keurig Dr Pepper, recently agreed to a $950,000 settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging that certain Keurig coffee makers suffered a defect after descaling.
Filed in September 2022 by plaintiffs Doreen Cahill and Janet Christman in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the suit claimed that Keurig’s K-Supreme, K-Supreme Plus, and K-Supreme SMART single-serve coffee makers could permanently lose power when users followed the company’s own descaling instructions or used the company’s descaling solution.
The complaint further alleged that Keurig failed to provide adequate remedies under its warranty to affected customers.
The complaint was originally brought against both Keurig and Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., but Bed Bath & Beyond was dismissed from the action in June of 2023, less than two months after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Under the May 9 settlement agreement — which followed several thousand pages of discovery between the two parties, as well as a court-approved mediation session in Aug. 2024 — Keurig does not admit wrongdoing.
“Defendant believes that the claims asserted in the Action against Defendant have no merit and that Defendant would have prevailed at class certification, summary judgment, and/or trial,” the agreement states. “Nonetheless, taking into account the expense, uncertainty and risks inherent in any litigation, Defendant believe it is desirable and beneficial that the Action be fully and finally settled and terminated in the manner and upon the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement.”
According to the agreement, Keurig will create a $950,000 non-reversionary settlement fund to provide payments of up to $250 to qualifying customers who experienced a permanent loss of power in their coffee makers, and either did not receive a remedy through the company’s warranty program or can provide documentation of the issue.
A final approval hearing for the settlement has not yet been scheduled, according to the docket report.
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