Item 3. Legal Proceedings
ITEM
3.
LEGAL
PROCEEDINGS
We
were named as a defendant in a putative class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
(the “Court”) on or about December 21, 2020. The plaintiffs, Eileen Brodsky and Rhonda Diamond, purporting to represent a
class of individuals who purchased coffee products at one of our supermarket customers, generally allege that such client sold private
label coffee products manufactured by us and one of our partners, which falsely described the number of cups of coffee that could be
made from the amount of product purchased. These parties are also named as defendants in the action. The complaint asserts a variety
of claims under New York and California consumer protection laws, and seeks unspecified monetary damages, including disgorgement and
restitution, as well as other forms of relief including class certification, declaratory and injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees,
and interest. We believe the allegations in the complaint are wholly without merit and that the claims asserted are legally deficient,
and the company intends to vigorously defend the action. On September 28, 2021, the Court entered an order granting our motion to dismiss
with prejudice (the “Dismissal Order”). In the Dismissal Order, the Court stated that no reasonable coffee drinker would
be deceived by our packaging. We are currently awaiting a ruling on the plantiff’s appeal.
A
significant customer of ours was named as a defendant in a putative class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for
the District of Massachusetts on or about February 2, 2021, concerning the labeling on private label coffee productions we sold to the
customer. The plaintiff, David Cohen, purporting to represent a class of individuals who purchased coffee products from our customer,
generally allege that the customer sold private label coffee products manufactured by us which falsely described the number of cups of
coffee that could be made from the amount of product purchased. We are not named as a defendant in the action, but we have agreed to
indemnify the customer for the costs and expenses incurred in defending the lawsuit and for any liability the customer may suffer as
a result. The complaint asserts a variety of claims under Massachusetts consumer protection laws, and seeks unspecified monetary damages
as well as other forms of relief including class certification, declaratory and injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees, and interest.
We believe the allegations in the complaint are wholly without merit and that the claims asserted are legally deficient, and we intend
to vigorously support the customer in defending the action. As of the filing of this Form 10-K, we are unable to predict the ultimate
outcome of this lawsuit.
ITEM
4.
MINE
SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not
applicable.
21
PART
II
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