MINNEAPOLIS - (Business Wire) After more than a decade in litigation, which included two U.S. Supreme Court appearances and five trips the Minnesota Supreme Court, Minnesota farmers will finally receive payments from a class action lawsuit brought against BASF Corporation in 1997 for fraudulent marketing practices.
Following a prolonged appeals process and an exhaustive claim validation period, payments totaling $32 million are being mailed to more than 1,137 claimants nationwide. There are 647 approved claimants in Minnesota with a combined payout exceeding $17 million.
With claims allocated as a pro rata share of gallons of BASF’s Poast herbicide purchased by individual claimants during the 1992-96 claim period, the majority of farmers will receive checks for thousands of dollars. A small number of farmers, including one in Minnesota, will receive payments exceeding $450,000.
“This is an enormously successful national class action that rectifies a fraudulent market segmentation scheme,” said Douglas J. Nill of Minneapolis, the lead attorney for the farmers. “From their own admission, such marketing practices were common within the industry. For 10 years we fought a ‘David and Goliath’ battle with the chemical industry. The disbursement of the money judgment is a warning bell to the chemical industry that they cannot market and price herbicides using fraud and intimidation.”
Led by 11 Midwest farmers, the class action lawsuit was filed in Norman County (Minn.) District Court in December of 1997. In Peterson v. BASF Corporation, the farmers alleged that the multi-national chemical company defrauded sugar beet, sunflower and other specialty crop growers by marketing the same herbicide as different products at different prices, in violation of state consumer protection statutes.
In 2001 a jury determined that BASF defrauded thousands of farmers by marketing the same herbicide as different products at different prices as a system of deceit to extract inflated prices for the same herbicide from minor crop farmers. Based on the verdict, farmers were awarded $52 million with interest and fees.
“This case has had a profound impact on my life as well as those of the farmers involved,” said Nill. “It is a great satisfaction to know that the checks are finally getting into the hands of farmers.”
In the end, the case amounted to a money judgment and interest totaling approximately $62 million.
About Peterson v. BASF Corporation
BASF originally registered a herbicide called Poast with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 1980s to treat major and minor crops. At that time, Poast had little competition in the marketplace. As competition increased in the lucrative major crop market, BASF issued a new herbicide, which was virtually the twin of Poast, called Poast Plus. Though the EPA approved Poast Plus for the same major and minor crops as Poast, BASF marketed its new herbicide for use on just four major crops and sold it at a cheaper price.
Both herbicides contain the same active ingredient in different concentrations, but when mixed according to the packaging, the mixture resulted in the same amount of active ingredient per acre. BASF labeled the products differently, omitting certain EPA-approved crops from listings on the new label, so minor-crop farmers would have to pay more per acre for Poast, even though the EPA actually approved both herbicides as safe for the same crops.
In 1992, BASF began a marketing campaign based on false advertisement of Poast and Poast Plus and warning farmers of the dangers associated with using herbicides on crops not listed on the product labels (even though EPA had approved such uses as safe). Further, BASF perpetuated the deception by turning in its own dealers and farmers for prosecution if they were found using the herbicides on off-label crops.
About Douglas J. Nill
Doug Nill is a litigator representing farmers in injury and business disputes, consumer class actions, and appellate practice. Licensed to practice law in Minnesota, Nill is associates with experienced lawyers throughout the United States to help people across the country. Raised on a North Dakota ranch, Nill was recognized in 2001 and 2002 by a national farm advocacy group as "one of the nation's best attorneys" representing farmers in complex business litigation. Nill has been recognized as a Minnesota “Super Lawyer” and in 2006 was recognized as an Attorney of the Year in Minnesota. Nill has an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from North Dakota State University and served as the editor of Farm and Ranch Guide, a farm business magazine distributed in five mid-western states. Following studies at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, Nill served a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Donald E. O'Brien, Chief U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Iowa, based in Sioux City, Iowa.
Media Contacts:
Farm Law
Doug Nill, 612-718-1018 (cell)
612-573-3669 (office)
dnill@farmlaw.com
or
Risdall McKinney Public Relations
Sarah Ryder, 651-286-6713
sarah@risdall.com
