Dean Foods - Controversy

Controversy

In 2001, the company was sued by seven former employees, who alleged the company did not protect them from harassment by fellow workers in the workplace. The alleged harassment activity included the posting of swastikas and Ku Klux Klan graffiti, as well as rope nooses and Confederate flags. The incidents are said to have taken place between 1993 and 2000. The case was settled in May 2003, when the plaintiffs agreed to a $3.3 million out-of-court settlement.

Two shareholders filed lawsuits against Dean Foods and Horizon Organic Holding Corp. in 2003, alleging Dean paid too little in their agreement to acquire the company. The lawsuits, which sought class action status, also alleged neither company met their legal obligation to satisfy the interests of the Horizon Organic shareholders. Executives at Dean Foods said the lawsuits were without merit. Dean Foods settled with the shareholders in May 2007.

On May 12, 2008, Cornucopia filed a complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) declaring that Deans Foods restrained an abundant amount of their cows to an unhygienic feed yard in Snelling, California; federal organic regulations require such animals to be maintained in an organic environment with access to pasture and fresh grass. Allegations from the federal agency were dismissed.

The Dean Foods' facilities in Colorado and Texas milk approximately 20,000 cows. These operations have been investigated by the USDA as a result of complaints filed by Cornucopia representing the family-scale farming community.

In 2009, the company was criticized and accused of being a monopolistic broker.

In the fall of 2009, St. Paul Pioneer Press reported the Cornucopia Institute had made complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture accusing Silk producer Dean Foods and its WhiteWave Foods division of shifting their products away from organics without properly notifying retailers or consumers. According to the Star Telegram and other news sources, Silk brand soy milk was made using organic soybeans until early 2009, when Dean Foods switched to conventional soybeans while maintaining the same UPC barcodes and prices on the Silk products and replacing the word “organic” with “natural” on the Silk product packaging.

Foremost Farms USA, a cooperative of over 2,000 dairy farmers in several midwestern states, sold its Wisconsin milk processing plants to Dean Foods in 2009. On January 22, 2010, the US Department of Justice, along with the state attorneys general of Wisconsin and Michigan, filed a law suit and complaint that alleges the purchase created a monopolizing provider. According to a press statement released that same day, Dean Foods announced it was contesting the complaint.

In October 2010, Dean Foods announced it was retiring the Schepps brand for dairy products in the Dallas, Texas area in favor of their Oak Farms brand. The Schepps brand had been in the Dallas market since 1942. A transition period with Schepps/Oak Farms cobranded milk began on October 11, 2010, with a complete switch to Oak Farms branding planned for February 2011.

In 2011, a class action suit was brought against Deans Foods over health claims made on the packaging of Horizon Organic Milk.

In 2012, Dean Foods contributed $253,950 to fund opposition to California's ballot Proposition 37 which would have required mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.