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Back in the summer of 2024, Boars Head recalled seven million pounds of deli meat that had been linked to a deadly listeria outbreak that spanned numerous U.S. states. That outbreak led to the deaths of multiple people and caused the company to shutter one of its processing facilities, which was located in Virginia. The recall led to a brand crisis for Boars Head, and by November 2024, when the outbreak was declared over, a total of 10 people had died, and 61 became sick. The event led to class action lawsuits against the company, one of which has now been settled. Heres what to know about the settlement and whether you can claim any compensation. Class action settlement Boars Head Provisions Co., Inc. has now agreed to settle a class action lawsuit related to the recall. The case, Pompilio, et al. v. Boars Head Provisions Co., Inc., was filed in the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York. According to the official settlement website, the class action suit alleged that the recall economically harmed the plaintiffs. Its important to note that as part of the settlement, Boars Head has not admitted to any wrongdoing, as is common with most class action settlements. As part of the settlement, Boars Head Provisions Co., Inc. has agreed to pay claimants $3.1 million, minus court costs and other fees. Am I included in the settlement? You are included in the settlementand can make a claimif you meet the courts Settlement Class Member description. The court says a Settlement Class Member is All natural persons who purchased in the United States any Covered Products between the earliest date of manufacture of any Covered Product (May 10, 2024) and August 12, 2024 for personal, family or household use, and not for resale, except for any Excluded Persons. Excluded Persons are defined on the settlement website. How much can I get from the settlement? You are eligible to receive a portion of the settlement if you meet one of the following two criteria: You have proof of purchase for a product covered under the settlement. If you have proof of purchase for a covered product, you are eligible to receive the full purchase price for each unit of Covered Product listed on the Proof of Purchase, subject to adjustment as set forth below. You do not have proof of purchase for a product covered under the settlement. In this case, you can receive the average retail price for up to two (2) Covered Products claimed per Household, subject to adjustment as set forth below. The adjustments listed above can be found here in the settlements FAQ. How can I file a claim? The easiest way to file a claim is by using the claim form on the settlement website. The FAQ lists additional methods to file a claim. When do I need to file a claim by? Claims must be filed by May 16, 2025. That is also the date that class action members have until to exclude themselves from the class action lawsuit or object to it. The class action settlement is conditional upon the approval of the court. That hearing is expected to take place on August 13, 2025. Full details of the class action settlement can be found on the settlement website here.
Category:
E-Commerce
Stellantis NV said on Thursday it was temporarily laying off 900 workers at five U.S. facilities and pausing production at one assembly plant each in Mexico and Canada, after U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs were announced. Trump broadened the tariffs to a 10% baseline on all imports on Wednesday, with higher rates for some countries. These levies followed 25% duties on all auto imports announced last week, which sent shock waves through the global auto industry. In a letter sent to employees on Thursday morning, Antonio Filosa, Stellantis’s chief operating officer for the Americas, said the company is “continuing to assess the medium- and long-term effects of these tariffs on our operations, but also have decided to take some immediate actions.” These included temporarily pausing production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants, affecting jobs at several of Stellantis’ U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities, he said. Shares of Stellantis, which locally makes only half of its U.S.-sold vehicles including Ram trucks and Jeeps, closed 9.3% lower in New York on Thursday. Shares of Ford, General Motors, and Tesla also fell sharply. Nearly half the cars sold last year in the U.S.the world’s largest importer of carswere brought in from abroad, according to research firm GlobalData. Stellantis said its Windsor Assembly, where the Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager minivans and Dodge Charger Daytona are made, will be down for two weeks while Toluca Assembly in Mexico, where the Jeep Compass and Jeep Wagoneer S are made, will be down for the month of April. About 4,500 workers at Windsor will be impacted by the idling. Workers at Toluca will continue to report to work and get paid but will not make vehicles, according to the company. “A horrifying consequence of Trump’s tariffs,” Democratic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer said on X, referring to the job cuts. “American workers are paying the price.” Romaine McKinney III, president of the local union chapter that represents workers at Stellantiss stamping plant in Warren, Michigan, said the tariff-related layoffs were troubling his members, especially as they saw GM adding jobs in the U.S. Its pure devastation, McKinney said, adding that morale is already low from a year of layoffs and buyouts that resulted from former CEO Carlos Tavaress costcutting strategy. The five facilities affected by the layoff include Stellantis’s Warren Stamping and Sterling Stamping plants as well as the Indiana Transmission Plant, Kokomo Transmission Plant, and Kokomo Casting Plant, the company said. While McKinney understands it will take time for Stellantis to shift its output, he does not believe the automakerwhich supplies Canadian plants as well as U.S. oneshas to lay off U.S. workers in the meantime. Its completely unnecessary. Its a choice the company is making. The White House declined immediate comment on the Stellantis job cuts. Trump and his administration have said there would be short-term pain for Americans but have promised long-term economic gains with Trump’s plan. The White House said on Thursday that tariffs would ultimately boost U.S. industries and workers. “They can expect their wages to go up . . . There’s not going to be any pain for American-owned companies and American workers because their jobs are going to come back home,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told cable news network NewsNation on Thursday, referring to any impact from Trump’s tariff plan. NORTH AMERICAN INTERCONNECTIVITY While goods from Mexico and Canada that comply with a trade agreement between the three countries will largely remain exempt from tariffs under Trump’s order, auto exports and steel and aluminum fall under separate tariff policies. Automakers are scrambling to figure out how to respond and how much to raise prices, as customers rush to buy cars sitting in lots. The base U.S. tariff rate for automotive imports is 2.5%. Automakers importing vehicles from Canada or Mexico can deduct the value of U.S. parts from the 25% levy. In February, Stellantis said it was pausing work on its next-generation Jeep Compass compact SUV including the retooling of Brampton Assembly in Canada, which is designated to build the vehicle. Lana Payne, president of Unifor, the Canadian union representing Stellantis workers there, said in a Thursday statement: “Unifor warned that U.S. tariffs would hurt auto workers almost immediately and in this case the layoffs were announced before the auto tariff even came into effect. Trump is about to learn how interconnected the North American production system is the hard way, with auto workers paying the price for that lesson. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said in a statement that Stellantis has “got the money, the capacity, the product, and the workforce to employ thousands more UAW members in Michigan, Indiana, and beyond. These layoffs are a completely unnecessary choice that the company is making.” Kalea Hall, David Shepardson and Nora Eckert, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
Your favorite iPhone could soon become much pricier, thanks to tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a series of sweeping tariffs on countries around the world that could drastically alter the landscape of global trade, and consumer goods like iPhones could be among the hardest hit, analysts said on Thursday, with increases of 30% to 40% if the company were to pass on the cost to consumers. Most iPhones are still made in China, which was hit with a 54% tariff. If those levies persist, Apple has a tough choice: absorb the extra expense or pass it on to customers. Shares of the company closed down 9.3% on Thursday, hitting their worst day since March 2020. Apple sells more than 220 million iPhones a year; its biggest markets include the United States, China and Europe. The cheapest iPhone 16 model was launched in the U.S. with a sticker price of $799, but could cost as much as $1,142, per calculations based on projections from analysts at Rosenblatt Securities, who say the cost could rise by 43% – if Apple is able to pass that on to consumers. A more expensive iPhone 16 Pro Max, with a 6.9-inch display and 1 terabyte of storage, which currently retails at $1599, could cost nearly $2300 if a 43% increase were to pass to consumers. Trump imposed tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports in his first term as president to pressure U.S. companies to bring manufacturing either back to the United States or to nearby countries such as Mexico, but Apple secured exemptions or waivers for several products. This time, he has not yet granted any exemptions. “This whole China tariff thing is playing out right now completely contrary to our expectation that American icon Apple would be kid-gloved, like last time,” Barton Crockett, analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, said in a note. The iPhone 16e, launched in February as a cheaper entry point for Apple’s suite of artificial-intelligence features, costs $599. A 43% price hike could push that cost to $856. Prices of other Apple devices could jump as well. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Many customers pay for their phones over a period of two or three years through contracts with their cellular providers. However, other analysts noted that iPhone sales have been floundering in the company’s major markets, as Apple Intelligence, a suite of features that helps summarize notifications, rewrite emails and give users access to ChatGPT, has failed to enthuse buyers. Expert reviews have suggested that the features, while innovative, do not provide enough of a compelling reason to justify upgrading to newer models. The stagnation in demand could put additional pressure on Apple’s bottom line, especially if costs rise due to tariffs. Angelo Zino, equity analyst at CFRA Research, said the company will have a tough time passing on more than 5% to 10% of the cost to consumers. “We expect Apple to hold off on any major increases on phones until this fall when its iPhone 17 is set to launch, as it is typically how it handles planned price hikes.” Even with some production moving to Vietnam and India, most iPhones are still made in China, and those countries were not spared from tariffs either, with Vietnam getting a 46% levy and India’s coming in at 26%. Apple would need to raise its prices by at least 30% on average to offset import duties, according to Counterpoint Research co-founder Neil Shah. A potentially sharp price hike could dampen demand for the smartphone and give South Korea’s Samsung Electronics an edge, as the Asian country faces lower tariffs than China, where all iPhones sold in the U.S. are made. “Our quick math on Trump’s tariff Liberation Day suggests this could blow up Apple, potentially costing the company up to $40 billion,” Rosenblatt Securities’ Crockett noted, adding that negotiations between Apple, China and the White House are likely. “It’s hard for us to imagine Trump blowing up an American iconbut this looks pretty tough.” Akash Sriram, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
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