McNair Law Firm P.A. was recently involved with Hunton and Williams and other law firms around the country in reaching a $297 million settlement on behalf of plaintiffs in a multidistrict class action against U.S. Foodservice Inc. and its former parent company, Koninklijke Ahold N.V. The settlement agreement is pending approval by the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.
“This is a significant legal victory for our client Thomas & King and other similarly situated restaurateurs in the class,” said Celeste T. Jones of McNair Law Firm, litigation counsel for Thomas & King, a South Carolina company, in a release. “The legal team led by Richard Wyatt of Hunton & Williams did a magnificent job in this very complex matter which involved the RICO class certification, an appeal affirming the RICO class by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, and a denial of defendant’s petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
This agreement is believed to be one of the largest civil RICO class action settlements in recent history and was reached on behalf of customers, primarily hospitals and restaurants who claimed they were defrauded by U.S. Foodservice when it created six companies it controlled to inflate costs. U.S. Foodservice previously settled a similar claim made by the United States for approximately $30 million.
