Yes, mailed checks from a Safeway class action lawsuit settlement are real

It can be difficult to know exactly how to protect your personal information with so many scams out there. 

That’s why viewer Loretta emailed the VERIFY team to ask if a check she received from a Safeway class action lawsuit was legitimate or a scam to steal her banking information. Safeway is a grocery store chain with locations throughout the United States. 

THE QUESTION

Are mailed checks from a Safeway class action lawsuit settlement real?

THE SOURCES

• Safeway class action lawsuit settlement website
• Rodman v. Safeway Inc.

THE ANSWER

Yes, mailed checks from a Safeway class action lawsuit settlement are real. You may have received money if you registered for Safeway’s online grocery delivery service before Nov. 15, 2011, and made purchases between April 2010 and Dec. 21, 2014, that were subject to an undisclosed price markup.

WHAT WE FOUND

The class action lawsuit Rodman v. Safeway Inc., filed in 2011, claims Safeway breached the terms and conditions of its online grocery service by charging higher prices than it charged in stores. On Nov. 30, 2015, a court approved a $42 million judgment in the class action lawsuit. Safeway appealed the decision, but a court affirmed that judgment in August 2017.

Shoppers who registered for Safeway’s online grocery delivery service before Nov. 15, 2011, and made purchases between April 2010 and Dec. 21, 2014 that were subject to an undisclosed price markup are eligible for money from the settlement, according to the class action lawsuit’s website. Any markups that Safeway applied or continues to apply to any orders placed after Dec. 21, 2014 are not part of the lawsuit.

The first round of checks was mailed to class members in 2018, the settlement website says. Following a judge’s order in November 2021, the remaining funds in the settlement are now being sent to class members who cashed checks during the first round of distribution. 

The judgment administrator mailed the second round of checks in January 2022, according to the settlement website. All funds remaining after this distribution will be donated to Meals on Wheels. 

People who received checks have 90 days to cash them and will receive at least three emails from the judgment administrator reminding them to do so, the class action lawsuit website says. 

Those who have moved or have a different email address since they received their initial distribution check should provide updated information to the judgment administrator via email or by sending a letter, first class mail, to: Safeway Judgment Administrator, Attn: Address Update, 1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210. 

Class members should include their claim number in all correspondence. 

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