On October 27, 2011 Judge Paul Friedman in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. approved the settlement of the Pigford II lawsuit, filed by black farmers against the USDA for discrimination in lending  (otherwise known as “In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation”).

Judge Friedman states in his order, that this settlement applies to all farmers or their heirs that filed late claim petitions, under section 5g in the original Pigford v. Glickman consent decree, between October 13, 1999 and September 15, 2000; and those who have documented evidence of filing “late-late” claim petitions from September 2000 until June 18, 2008 (date of the passage of the current Farm Bill). This case only applies to persons who have not had a determination (positive or negative) on the merits of their claims of discrimination in the initial case.

Persons who have late and late-late claims in the case will have 180 days from November 14, 2011 to May 11, 2012 to file their claims in the case.

Lawyers in the case say there are as many as 65,000 people who filed a late claim in the case by the September 15, 2000 deadline and potentially thousands more who filed something after that deadline.

Lawyers in the case, known as class counsel, will be holding meetings in the Southeast and other areas affected by the case to provide information and fill out the formal claims in the case. Farmers who are not sure of their status in the case may call EPIQ – the settlement administrator- who has a data base of the claimants – at 877-810-8110- to get more information.

If you are a “late-late” filer who is not on the EPIQ data base, you will need to furnish documented proof that you submitted a late claim petition, letter, request in order to receive an official late claim form. 

The settlement administrator will provide a “bar-coded claim form” to each claimant. This form is specific to that claimant and cannot be used by anyone else. Claimants will need to bring their bar coded claim form with them when they meet with class counsel.

The claim form asks the farmer a set of questions about the years they farmed (this lawsuit applies to the period 1981 to 1996); the size and location of their farm or farms; the crops and or livestock they raised or intended to raise; the USDA loan(s) or other services they were seeking; the discriminatory treatment they received from USDA; and whether they complained about their treatment and to whom.

“Many farmers are under the impression that they have already made a claim”,  said Ralph Paige, Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. “This is not the case. We have been fighting for ten years for late claimants to have their cases heard on their merits. Farmers will now get that chance and have the opportunity to make their case on their claim form. Our staff will be available to advise and assist people in this process.”

Since there is a finite sum of money for the settlement, $1.25 billion, which must be used to pay all legal, notice and administrative expenses of the settlement,  as well as pay the farmers, the Judge has ruled that no funds will be distributed until after the 180 day claims period and the evaluation of all claims. This means that funds will not be distributed until late in 2012 or early in 2013.

Ralph Paige also indicated that there are many farmers who paid people and organizations to get into the lawsuit. “We feel many of these people will be disappointed to learn that their late claim petitions or paperwork they filled out were not turned in to the correct and official offices in this case.”

“Farmers should be warned not to pay people who say that they can get you a claim form or get you into the case if you have not filed anything up to this time. You should report those people to the lawyers in the case so they can be prosecuted for fraud, “ said Paige.

Paige indicated, “Many people have given up, others have died in the process, but this is another milestone on the long road to justice for discrimination by USDA against Black farmers.”

For more information on the Pigford II settlement from the Federation, contact 205/652-9676 or see their website: www.federation.coop.