Sign Up for R.C. Bigelow Class Action Lawsuit
R.C. Bigelow class action lawsuit is currently open:
The deadline to file with Chimo is February 1, 2027. Bought one of nine Bigelow teas at a California store from 2017 to 2023? You can claim 50 cents a box, up to $10 per household, with no receipt needed.
R.C. Bigelow Class Action Lawsuit
If you picked up a box of Bigelow Earl Grey or Constant Comment in a California grocery store, you may have seen the words "Manufactured in the USA 100% American Family Owned" on the side of the box. Two California shoppers, Kimberly Banks and Carol Cantwell, sued R.C. Bigelow, Inc. in 2020, saying that label was misleading.
According to the complaint, none of the tea leaves in the boxes were grown or processed in the United States. The lawsuit says the black and green tea came from tea gardens and processing plants in places such as Sri Lanka and India, and that the tea makes up well over 90% of each product. Bigelow blends and packages its tea in the United States, and it argued that the label was accurate. The shoppers who sued say they would have paid less, or not bought the tea at all, had they known.
The court allowed the case to go forward as a class action on behalf of California buyers. On April 8, 2025, a jury found that Bigelow violated California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act, a state law against deceptive sales practices, breached an express warranty, which is a promise a seller makes about its product, and made a false representation. The jury awarded $2,360,744 to the class. The court entered judgment and Bigelow appealed. Bigelow still denies the allegations, but both sides agreed to settle rather than keep litigating, and Judge Stephen V. Wilson gave the settlement preliminary approval on October 5, 2026.
R.C. Bigelow Class Action Settlement - $2,548,187
Bigelow agreed to pay up to $2,548,187 in total to California shoppers who file valid claims. That is the $2,360,744 the jury awarded at trial, plus two years of interest. You are covered if you bought one of nine caffeinated Bigelow teas at a California store between October 17, 2017, and July 31, 2023.
Lawyers' fees and the cost of running the settlement are paid on top of that total, so they do not come out of claimants' payments. The lawyers for the class, The Wand Law Firm, P.C. and Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP, may ask the court for $2,746,451 in fees and $653,756 in expenses. They may also ask for $25,000 each for the two shoppers who brought the case and testified at trial. JND Legal Administration, the company that runs the claims process, can be paid up to $501,605.90. The court decides how much each of them gets.
Money from checks not cashed within 90 days goes to Feeding America, a hunger nonprofit, or the Consumer Federation of California, a consumer advocacy group, if the court approves. File with Chimo by February 1, 2027. The deadline to opt out or object is January 7, 2027, and the final approval hearing is May 17, 2027, in Los Angeles.
Deadline for filing a claim: February 1, 2027
Bigelow Tea Made in USA Class Action Payout: $10 per household
The settlement pays 50 cents for each eligible box of Bigelow tea. Without receipts, you can claim up to 20 boxes, for up to $10. With proof of purchase for every box, such as receipts or a paid invoice, the cap is 40 boxes, or $20. The caps are per household, meaning everyone at the same mailing address shares one $10 or $20 maximum.
The amount can move. If valid claims add up to more than $2,548,187, every payment is cut by the same share. If they add up to less, every payment grows by the same share, up to $20 for a claim without receipts and $40 for a claim with them. Chimo files the no-receipt option, which needs only the number of boxes of each tea you bought.
A claim mailed on the paper form is paid by paper check, and checks must be cashed within 90 days. Payments are sent about 45 days after the court gives final approval and any appeals end. The final approval hearing is May 17, 2027.
Product Origin Label Settlement Payouts
Bigelow Tea Made in USA Class Action Eligibility
You are in the class if you bought at least one 18- or 20-count box of one of these caffeinated Bigelow teas at a retail store in California between October 17, 2017, and July 31, 2023: Earl Grey, Green Tea, Constant Comment, Green Lemon, Vanilla Chai, English Tea Time, Spiced Chai, French Vanilla and Vanilla Caramel. The box had to carry the label "Manufactured in the USA 100% American Family Owned". Decaf and herbal teas are not covered. Distributors and retailers of Bigelow tea, the court and its staff, the mediator and the lawyers on the case are left out, and so is anyone who opts out.
What matters is where you bought the tea, not where you live now. If your address today is outside California, Chimo asks for a receipt or other record showing you bought the tea at a California store, so the claim holds up.
The claim form asks for your name, mailing address, email address and phone number, how many boxes of each tea you bought, and the Unique ID from your notice if you received one by mail or email. You sign it under penalty of perjury, a legal promise that you personally bought the tea and that what you wrote is true. Claim only boxes you are sure you bought.
Bigelow Tea Made in USA Class Action Claim Form
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FAQ
Anyone who bought an 18- or 20-count box of a listed caffeinated Bigelow tea, labeled Manufactured in the USA 100% American Family Owned, at a retail store in California between October 17, 2017, and July 31, 2023.
50 cents per box, up to $10 per household without receipts or $20 with proof of purchase. If valid claims total less than $2,548,187, every payment grows by the same share, to as much as $20 or $40; if they total more, every payment shrinks.
Not for the no-receipt option, which pays up to $10 for up to 20 boxes. If your address today is outside California, Chimo asks for a receipt or other record showing you bought the tea at a California store.
Caffeinated 18- or 20-count boxes of Earl Grey, Green Tea, Constant Comment, Green Lemon, Vanilla Chai, English Tea Time, Spiced Chai, French Vanilla and Vanilla Caramel. Decaf and herbal versions are not part of the settlement.
File with Chimo by February 1, 2027. The court's own deadline is February 8, 2027, for claims submitted online or postmarked by mail, and Chimo mails claims a few business days ahead so they arrive in time.
No. The class only covers purchases made at a retail store in California. Where you live now does not matter, but a box bought in another state, or ordered online, is not part of this settlement.
About 45 days after the court gives final approval and any appeals are resolved. The final approval hearing is set for May 17, 2027, in Los Angeles, so payments are not expected before mid-2027.
No. A jury found in April 2025 that Bigelow's label broke California consumer law and awarded the class $2,360,744, and Bigelow appealed. Bigelow still denies the allegations but agreed to settle to end the case.
No. Bigelow pays the attorneys' fees, expenses, the two shoppers' service awards and the cost of running the settlement separately from the money paid to class members. The court decides how much the lawyers receive.
Checks have to be cashed within 90 days. Money from uncashed payments goes to Feeding America or the Consumer Federation of California, two nonprofits, if the court approves. None of it goes back to Bigelow.
Sources
These are the court's own records for this case. They are hosted here unchanged, so you can check anything on this page against the documents themselves.
- First Amended Class Action Complaint (PDF) Complaint · Filed August 20, 2020 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Case 2:20-cv-06208-SVW (RAOx)
- Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (July 8, 2024) (PDF) Court order · Filed July 8, 2024 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Case 2:20-cv-06208-SVW (RAOx)
- Jury Verdict Form (April 8, 2025) (PDF) Court record · Filed April 8, 2025 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Case 2:20-cv-06208-SVW (RAOx)
- Judgment (May 29, 2025) (PDF) Court order · Filed May 29, 2025 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Case 2:20-cv-06208-SVW (RAOx)
- Joint Notice of Settlement (PDF) Court record · Filed July 27, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Case 2:20-cv-06208-SVW (RAOx)
- Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement (PDF) Court order · Filed October 5, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Case 2:20-cv-06208-SVW (RAOx)
The full case file is on the court docket: view the docket.