California shoppers who bought a box of Bigelow tea marked “Manufactured in the USA” between Oct. 17, 2017 and July 31, 2023 have until Feb. 8, 2027 to file a claim in a class settlement. The payment is up to $20 with a receipt and up to $10 without one, the settlement website says. The case is Banks v. R.C. Bigelow, Inc. in federal court in Los Angeles.
The class is narrow. It covers people who bought the tea at a retail store in California, so online orders and purchases made in other states are left out, according to the official settlement website. A box bought at a supermarket in Sacramento or San Diego counts. A box ordered online or picked up in Nevada does not.
Anyone who thinks they qualify should look in the pantry first. The settlement covers 18-count and 20-count boxes of nine caffeinated Bigelow teas, and the box carries the wording “Manufactured in the USA 100% American Family Owned.”
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What a jury found about the label
The settlement follows a trial. In April 2025 a federal jury in the Central District of California found for the class on all claims, including violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, breach of express warranty and false misrepresentation, and awarded $2.36 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages, according to a law firm’s summary of the verdict.
Before trial the court ruled the statement “literally false” because the tea leaves are processed abroad, the same summary says. Bigelow argued the label referred to its blending and packaging plants in the United States and was not meant to mislead. The class’s damages expert attributed 11.3% of sales to the label and estimated overpayments of $3.26 million.
The summary says all of Bigelow’s black, green and oolong tea is grown and processed overseas, mostly in China, India and Sri Lanka, although the company makes its tea bags in the United States and owns a U.S. tea plantation. Class lawyers pointed to evidence that the chief executive received an email describing the Federal Trade Commission’s “Made in USA” requirements and that employees recommended other labels, but the company kept this one. A lead plaintiff testified she bought the tea because of the American-made labeling.
The court certified the class July 31, 2023, the same day the settlement’s purchase window closes.
The teas and the proof that count
The covered products are the caffeinated versions of Earl Grey Black Tea, Green Tea, Constant Comment Black Tea, Green Lemon Tea, Vanilla Chai Black Tea, English Tea Time Black Tea, Spiced Chai Black Tea, French Vanilla Black Tea and Vanilla Caramel Black Tea. Only 18-count and 20-count boxes are on the list, and the settlement website names no other sizes.
Proof of purchase means a receipt or a paid invoice. A shopper without one can still file with a sworn statement, but the payment is capped at the lower amount. Old grocery receipts rarely survive years, so a loyalty-card record or a bank statement that shows the purchase may be worth looking for, though the settlement website does not say whether those are accepted.
How much the claim pays
The settlement website lists up to $20 with a valid claim form and proof of purchase, and up to $10 without proof. Amounts depend on the number of eligible products bought. A summary at Open Class Actions puts the rate at $0.50 per box, with a cap of 20 boxes without proof and 40 boxes with a receipt or paid invoice.
Only one claim can be filed per household. Because the payments come from a shared fund, the summary says they can rise or fall depending on how many valid claims arrive.
The fund totals $6.5 million, the same summary says, and none of it goes back to Bigelow. At least $2,548,187 is set aside for payments to class members. Lawyers for the class are asking the court to approve $2,746,451 in fees, plus $653,756 in expenses, and unclaimed money goes to the charity Feeding America. The fees and expenses still need the judge’s approval.
The dates that matter
The claim deadline is Feb. 8, 2027. The deadline to opt out of the settlement or object to it is earlier, Jan. 7, 2027. Anyone who wants to object must stay in the settlement, the website says.
The court is scheduled to hold the final approval hearing May 17, 2027, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time at the First Street Courthouse in Los Angeles, according to the settlement website and the Open Class Actions summary. The judge is Stephen V. Wilson, the summary says.
The settlement administrator, JND Legal Administration, can be reached at 1-844-566-0049 or [email protected]. Its mailing address is Tea Class Action, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91307, Seattle, WA 98111. The website says a claim form is the only way to receive a payment.
Is an old box of Bigelow tea enough to file by Feb. 8?
A claim filed after Feb. 8, 2027 gets nothing, and a sworn statement without a receipt pays up to $10 where a receipt pays up to $20. Tea bought years ago rarely comes with paperwork, so the dates and the proof rules decide the payment.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, a step-by-step filing walkthrough, and a claim log and payment tracker for keeping each deadline in one place. It runs 50 pages.
Get the Bigelow tea claim log and filing walkthrough in the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
