Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why did I get the Notice?

If you purchased one or more of the Covered Products in California between May 1, 2020, through July 1, 2020, as described in the Settlement Agreement, you have a right to know about a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit and your options. If the Court approves the Settlement, and after objections and appeals are resolved, an administrator approved by the Court (the “Settlement Administrator”) will oversee the distribution of the benefits that the Settlement allows.

2. What is this Lawsuit about and why is there a settlement?

On October 23, 2020, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit (the “Lawsuit”) on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated alleging that Defendant violated California state law by improperly representing that the Covered Product was organic. Plaintiff does not claim that the Covered Products caused anyone physical injury or harm. Plaintiff brought claims under Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1750, et seq., Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200, et. seq., Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17500, et seq., and for intentional and negligent misrepresentation.

Defendant denies any wrongdoing or liability arising out of any of the facts or conduct alleged in the Lawsuit and believes that it has valid defenses to the allegations. The Court has not decided that Defendant did anything wrong, and the settlement does not mean Defendant violated the law. Both the Plaintiffs and Defendant believe that the settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable and that it is in the best interests of the Settlement Class.

3. What is a class action?

A class action is a lawsuit in which the claims and rights of many people are decided in a single lawsuit. One or more people called “class representatives”, also called “Named Plaintiff(s),” in this case Mark Nilchian, file the instant Lawsuit asserting claims on behalf of himself and all other similarly situated persons. The “similarly situated persons” are called the “class,” or “class members”. The class representatives hire attorneys to handle the lawsuit, and, if the court approves the class as proposed by the class representatives’ attorneys, those attorneys (called the “Class Counsel”) represent the rights and interests of the class representatives as well as all members of the class. One court resolves the issues for all members of the class, except for those who specifically exclude themselves.

As a general rule, the class members are not responsible for paying the Class Counsel’s legal fees or expenses out of their own pockets. However, as is applicable in the instant Lawsuit, Class Counsel are sometimes paid, and reimbursed, if at all, from a money judgment obtained for the class by Class Counsel as a result of the lawsuit or from a settlement fund agreed to by the parties. (See the response to Question 11, below, regarding the basic terms of the Settlement including how attorneys’ fees are handled in this case.)

4. What is the purpose of the Notice?

The Court has ordered that the Notice be published to reach those who may be a member of the class on whose behalf the Named Plaintiff brought the Lawsuit (the “Settlement Class”). If you do qualify as a Settlement Class Member, it is important that you understand how the proposed settlement will affect your rights. Accordingly, the purpose of this Notice is to inform you, among other things, about:

1. the nature of the claims in the Lawsuit;
2. the definition of “class” that determines if you will be affected by the Settlement;
3. the terms of the Settlement, including how the terms affect you legally;
4. your right to opt out or object to the Settlement, if you so wish;
5. the procedures and deadlines for opting out or asserting any objections you may have; and
6. if you are eligible for a cash payment; how to submit the required claim for payment.

5. Who is included as a Member of the Settlement Class?

You are a Settlement Class Member if, at any time between May 1, 2020, through July 1, 2020, you were a resident of the State of California who purchased a Covered Product for personal use, and not resale or distribution.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (1) Defendant and its respective affiliates, employees, officers, directors, agents, and representatives, and their immediate family members; (2) Class Counsel and partners, attorneys, and employees of their law firms; and (3) the judges who have presided over the Lawsuit and their immediate family members.

Everyone who fits the class definition is a Settlement Class Member for purposes of the proposed Settlement. If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Settlement Class, you may consult an attorney of your own choosing and at your own expense, or contact one of the attorneys listed as Class Counsel in the response to Question 13 below. DO NOT contact the Court, Defendant, or Counsel for the Defendant with questions about the Lawsuit or the proposed Settlement.

6. How do I exclude myself from (get out of) the Settlement?

If you want to, you can exclude yourself from the Settlement, which is sometimes called “opting-out” of the Settlement Class. You must send a letter by mail stating that you want to be excluded from this Lawsuit or submit an exclusion request online. To exclude yourself from this Lawsuit, you must submit the exclusion request either online here by June 7, 2025, or mail a written Request for Exclusion postmarked no later than June 7, 2025 to:

Nilchian v. Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC Class Action
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799

The written Request for Exclusion must be personally signed by the individual who is the Settlement Class Member requesting exclusion, contain a statement that indicates his or her desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class in the matter of Nilchian v. Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC, Case No: 30-2020-01166856-CU-MC-CXC (or sufficient words to indicate the present Lawsuit against Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC), and contain a statement that he or she is otherwise a person in the Settlement Class and purchased one or more of the Covered Products.

You cannot exclude yourself on the phone or by email. If you ask to be excluded, you will not get any settlement payment, and you cannot object to the proposed Settlement. You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this Lawsuit. You may be able to sue (or continue to sue) Defendant in the future.

Exclusion requests that do not include all required information and/or that are not submitted on a timely basis, will be deemed null, void, and ineffective. Settlement Class Members who fail to submit a valid and timely Request for Exclusion on or before June 7, 2025, shall be bound by all terms of the Settlement and any Final Judgment entered in the Lawsuit if the Settlement is approved by the Court, regardless of whether they ineffectively or untimely requested exclusion from the Settlement. You will not be able to sue Defendant for the same things later. If you have a pending lawsuit against Defendant, speak to your lawyer in that lawsuit immediately. You might have to exclude yourself from this Settlement Class to continue your own lawsuit. If you would like to exclude yourself from the settlement, please click here for the exclusion form.

7. How do I tell the Court if I do not like the Settlement?

A Fairness Hearing, also known as a Final Approval Hearing, will be held on June 13, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable Randall J. Sherman, Superior Court of California, County of Orange, Civil Complex Center, at Department CX105, 751 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, CA 92701.

At the Fairness Hearing, Judge Sherman will review the terms of the proposed settlement, as well as hear or otherwise review objections, if any, to the proposed Settlement. If Judge Sherman determines the proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, at some point after the hearing he will enter a Final Approval Order and Judgment in the Lawsuit. THE FINAL APPROVAL ORDER WILL ALSO TERMINATE THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF EACH SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBER (WHO DOES NOT PROPERLY EXLUDE THEMSELVES FROM THIS LAWSUIT) TO BRING THEIR OWN LAWSUIT TO ASSERT CLAIMS AGAINST DEFENDANT SIMILAR TO THOSE ASSERTED IN THE LAWSUIT.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can tell the Court that you do not agree with (in other words, that you “object” to) the proposed Settlement or any part of it. To object, you may either orally object or otherwise offer comments at the Final Approval Hearing, or provide a letter or other written document (called an “Objection”) containing the following information: (1) the name, address, telephone number of the person objecting and, their counsel, if any; (2) a signed declaration stating that he or she is a person in the Settlement Class and purchased one or more of the Covered Products; (3) a statement of all objections to the Settlement Agreement and any supporting documentation; and (4) a statement of whether they intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either with or without counsel, and if with counsel, the name of their counsel who will attend. If you are objecting in writing you must mail your objection via first-class mail, post-marked no later than June 7, 2025, to the Court, Class Counsel and Defendant’s Counsel, whose addresses are listed below.

PLEASE NOTE: IF THE COURT DISAGREES WITH YOUR OBJECTION, THE FACT THAT YOU SUBMITTED AN OBJECTION WILL NOT PREVENT THE COURT FROM APPROVING THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT.

8. Do I have to come to the Fairness Hearing?

You are not required to attend the Fairness Hearing in order for the Court to consider your Objection Notice, although you may attend if you so wish. As long as you mail in a timely, written objection, it will be part of the record considered by the Court when the Court evaluates whether to approve the proposed settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate. You also may pay your own attorney to attend the Fairness Hearing, if you wish, but such attendance is not required, even if you hire an attorney to submit your Objection Notice.

9. May I speak at the Fairness Hearing?

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you may ask the Court to permit you, or your own attorney, to speak at the Fairness Hearing.

Please note that while you may make an oral objection at the Final Approval Hearing or file an Objection requesting permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing, filing such an Objection Notice does not necessarily mean the Court will allow you, or your attorney, to speak. In deciding whether to allow you to speak, the Court will take into consideration the number of persons who have requested the chance to speak, the nature of your objection, and the time available at the hearing, among other considerations.

10. What if I do nothing?

If you do nothing, you will get no payment from this proposed Settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendant about the subject matter of this Lawsuit.

11. What are the basic terms of the Proposed Settlement?

Summaries of the primary terms of the proposed Settlement are set out below. If you have any objection to any of these – or any other – Settlement terms, please refer to the response to Question 7 above.

1. The Settlement Class Member Payout and the Mandatory Claims Process



Subject to Court approval, the parties have agreed to a Settlement under which Defendant will pay the following:

• To Settlement Class Members who submit a valid and timely Claim Form, a pro rata portion of the Settlement Class Fund.


• To Class Counsel, the remaining amount from the common fund of $280,000 less the Settlement Class Fund, the Service Award, Plaintiff’s counsel’s case costs, and the Class Administration costs. Class Counsel has requested $186,395 in attorney’s fees and costs. This consists of $6,503.36 in litigation costs that have been incurred thus far by Plaintiff’s counsel. The costs are expected to increase but will not increase Class Counsel’s request for $186,395.


• To the Named Plaintiff, a service award of up to $5,000.


• To the Settlement Administrator, reasonable notice and claims administration costs capped at $50,000.



Defendant has also agreed to making certain changes to the manner in which it labels and advertises the Covered Product.

Each Settlement Class Member who wants to receive a payment must submit a Claim Form, either electronically through the Settlement Website by June 7, 2025, or by requesting one be sent to you via mail or email and then returning it by June 7, 2025. In the Claim Form, Settlement Class Members must verify under penalty of perjury that they are a member of the Settlement Class. Only one Claim Form may be submitted per Settlement Class Member, regardless of the number of bottles of the Covered Product purchased.

You can submit an electronic Claim Form quickly and easily online here. Read the instructions carefully and submit it on or before June 7, 2025.Alternatively, you may also submit a hard copy Claim Form by mailing it to the following address: Nilchian v. Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC, c/o Simpluris, Inc., P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799. It must be postmarked no later than June 7, 2025. You may access a printable Claim Form at here or you can request that one be mailed or emailed to you, by contacting Simpluris, Inc. by email at info@NilchianVSOrganicPasturesDairy.com, or by telephone at (888) 428-6687.

To be valid, all claims must be postmarked or submitted online no later than June 7, 2025. Settlement Class Members who submit a valid Claim Form will receive a pro rata portion of the Settlement Class Fund.

2. Named Plaintiff Service Award.



It is common in class actions for the class representatives to request a special “Service Award” as compensation for taking leading roles in the litigation and devoting their time and energy to the case for the benefit of the Settlement Class Members. Nilchian intends to ask the Court for an award of $5,000.00 for his services to the Settlement Class Members.

The Court is not required to approve the proposed Service Award, and is free to award any, or no, amount as a Service Award. The Court’s denial or reduction of the amount of the Service Award is not grounds for the Settlement Agreement to be terminated.

3. Attorneys’ Fees and Costs Award.



Class Counsel will request the remaining amount from the common fund of $280,000 less the Settlement Class Fund, the Service Award, Plaintiff’s counsel’s case costs, and the Class Administration costs. Class Counsel has requested $186,395 in attorney’s fees and costs. This consists of $6,503.36 in litigation costs that have been incurred thus far by Plaintiff’s counsel. The costs are expected to increase, but will not increase Class Counsel’s request for $186,395. The Court’s denial or reduction of the amount of the attorneys’ fees and/or costs requested is not grounds for the Settlement Agreement to be terminated.

4. Payment of Settlement Notice and Administration Costs.

Subject to Court approval, the Settlement Administrator will be paid all reasonable Settlement Administration Expenses from the Settlement Fund to provide the Settlement Class notice of Settlement and fully administer this Settlement Agreement. We do not know, yet, exactly how much this will cost, but such amount will not exceed $50,000.

12. What rights and claims do the Settlement Class Members release under the terms of the Proposed Settlement?

The purpose of any class action lawsuit is to resolve the legal claims of a large number of people in one lawsuit. Accordingly, whether by judgment or a settlement, certain results of a class action lawsuit are binding on all members of the Settlement Class. In the proposed Settlement for this Lawsuit, as with almost any class action settlement, certain Settlement Class Members receive money, some Settlement Class Members do not, and all Settlement Class Members are legally barred from taking certain future legal actions associated with claims that the Named Plaintiff have agreed shall be released (waived) by the terms of the Settlement Agreement in return for Defendant’s agreement to pay the award. This means that, if the proposed Settlement is finally approved, the Court will enter Judgment in the Lawsuit against the Defendant. As a result of the Judgment and the terms of the proposed Settlement, assuming it is approved by the Court, the Named Plaintiff will be releasing Defendant and all related people and entities identified in Section II.FF of the Settlement Agreement (called the “Released Persons”) for all the claims described and identified in Section II.EE of the Settlement Agreement (called the “Released Claims”).

“Released Claims” means claims that were asserted in the First Amended Complaint with respect to the Covered Product that arose during the Class Period, or any claims that reasonably could have been asserted based on the facts alleged in the First Amended Complaint with respect to the Covered Product that arose during the Class Period, whether known or unknown, alleged or not alleged in the Action, suspected or unsuspected, contingent or matured, under federal, state, or local law, which the Named Plaintiff had, now has or may in the future have with respect to any conduct, act, omissions, facts, matters, transactions, or oral or written statements or occurrences, during the Class Period, arising from or relating to the Covered Product (collectively, “Claims”), including, without limitation, the claims made by the Named Plaintiff in the Action.

The Settlement Agreement is here. The Settlement Agreement describes the Released Persons and Released Claims with specific descriptions, in necessarily accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to one of the lawyers listed in Section 13 below for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about the released claims or what they mean.

The proposed judgment applies to the entire Class (except those who properly exclude themselves from this Lawsuit), not just to the subset of the Class who submit claims and/or receive money under the proposed Settlement.

13. Do I have a lawyer in this Lawsuit?

As a Settlement Class Member, your interests are represented by the Class Counsel, whose names and contact information are provided below. You are free to retain your own independent counsel for advice regarding the proposed Settlement, if you wish, at your own expense.

Abbas Kazerounian, Esq.
Ryan L. McBride, Esq.
David J. McGlothlin, Esq.
KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC
245 Fischer Avenue, Suite D1
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Telephone: (800) 400-6808
Facsimile: (800) 520-5523

14. Who are the attorneys representing the Defendant in this Lawsuit?

The names and address of the attorneys representing the Defendant in this Lawsuit are:

Mark Figueiredo, Esq.
Sonia Gore, Esq.
Dona M. Abdo, Esq.
Structure Law Group, LLP
1754 Technology Drive, Suite 135
San Jose, CA 95110

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT CONTACT ANY OF THE ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LITIGATION OR THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT. YOU MAY CONTACT COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF WITH SUCH QUESTIONS OR CONSULT YOUR OWN ATTORNEY, WHICH YOU MUST RETAIN AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE.

15. Are there more details about the Proposed Settlement?

Yes. This website and the Notice are only intended to provide a summary of the Proposed Settlement. You may obtain the complete text of the Settlement Agreement here, by writing to the Settlement Administrator at Nilchian v. Organic Pastures Dairy Company, LLC, c/o Simpluris, Inc., P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799, or from the court file, which is available for your inspection during regular business hours at the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, Civil Complex Center, Dept. CX105, 751 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, California 92701.