Over the past several years, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women have alleged in litigation that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) discriminated against them when they sought to participate in USDA programs as farmers. The cases involve tens of thousands of class members and billions of dollars in remedies. More tens of thousands of claimants may yet recover.
Included here is a short summary of the status of each of the five main cases as of
December 8, 2011.
Pigford v. Vilsack,
was certified as a class of African Americans, and settlement of the case was approved in 1999. Implementation of Pigford is nearly complete, and it is too late to make a claim in the case. About $1.1 billion will have been paid to the African American class of about 23,000 farmers.
Go to the Pigford Monitor website
Keepseagle v. Vilsackwas certified as a class action of Native Americans, and settlement of the case was approved on April 28, 2011. The claim filing period ends on December 27, 2011. A federal appropriation of $760 million has been established for the settlement.
Go to the class counsel’s website for Keepseagle
In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation was certified as a class of African Americans, and a settlement of the case was approved on October 27, 2011. The class will include more than 60,000 people. The claim period began November 14, 2011, and will end on May 11, 2012. A maximum monetary value is included in the settlement. The total maximum is $1.25 billion.
Go to the class counsel website for In re Black Farmers
View Order of Reference: Appointment of Ombudsman(2/6/12)
In Garcia v. Vilsack,
Hispanics sought and were denied class status. Litigation is ongoing. In 2010 USDA announced that it would create an administrative process for resolving claims by Hispanics. Hispanics and women would be a part of the same process. The government says that it will make at least a total of $1.33 billion available to women and Hispanics in this process.
Go to the class counsel website for Garcia
Go to a USDA website that discusses USDA’s administrative process
In Love v. Vilsack,
women sought and were denied class status. Litigation is ongoing. In 2010 USDA announced that it would create an administrative process for resolving claims by women. Hispanics and women would be a part of the same process. The government says that it will make at least a total of $1.33 billion available to women and Hispanics in this process.
Go to the class counsel website for Love
Go to a USDA website that discusses USDA’s administrative process
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