January 2004
Poland Spring's Big Break
by Mandy Burrell
A class-action lawsuit filed by Ken Ramsey — who also happens to be sheriff of Kane County, Illinois — alleged that Poland Spring Water, a Nestlé subsidiary and the nation’s third largest bottled water company, advertised their water in a false, fraudulent, deceptive, and misleading manner. The suit, filed last summer, covered thousands of Poland Spring customers across the country. The suit claimed that, contrary to what it advertises, Poland Spring does not come from "deep in the woods of Maine"; is not naturally purified; is not, in fact, "spring water"; and even, that the water is not safe to drink.
However, after only two months of investigations into Poland Spring operations — a blink of the judicial system’s eye — Ramsey and his lawyers settled with Poland Spring in an agreement that releases the water giant from admitting any wrongdoing or fraudulence. In the settlement the plaintiffs receive no outright financial compensation from the water company. Rather, Poland Spring is required to offer them $8.05 million in discounts or coupons for their water over the next five years; additionally Poland Spring will donate $2.75 million in money or water to charitable causes and agreed to better monitor its water sources. Under any other name, this approach might be considered a brilliant marketing strategy.
Interestingly, one plaintiff did receive direct financial remuneration —Sheriff Ramsey — who was awarded $12,000; his lawyers got some $1.25 million. The agreement rankled lawyers across the country who had similar cases pending against Poland Spring. Despite hearing two days of objections from many of these lawyers, some of whom called the Ramsey settlement a "sweetheart deal that’s good for Nestlé and bad for consumers," Illinois Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Colwell approved the settlement last November 5.
As of press time, at least two parties who were covered in the class action lawsuit have filed appeals to the settlement, on the grounds that the agreement was not "fair, reasonable or adequate." Ramsey’s lawyers say that they cannot comment on the case, and a Poland Spring representative says that the company is satisfied with the terms of the settlement, adding that Judge Colwell considered consumer objections before coming to his conclusion.
Debbie Z. Druker of New Brunswick, New Jersey, is one of the parties appealing. Becoming aware of Ramsey’s settlement, Druker outlined her objections in a statement made at the Kane County Courthouse in October. For starters, since Druker no longer buys Poland Spring water, she and others like her are not qualified to receive any of the discounts or coupons from the settlement. Yet at the same time, Sheriff Ramsey nets a few grand — a discrepancy that "suggests a conflict of interest," according to Druker’s objection. Moreover, Druker says it’s unfair that Poland Spring gets to choose where 75 percent of the donated funds will end up — and more galling to Druker, that the company can donate bottles of water in lieu of dollars.
Perhaps most frustrating to objectors is the broadness of the settlement. It effectively renders similar pending class-action suits void, since Ramsey filed suit on behalf of "all persons and/or entities who have purchased or consumed Poland Spring brand of bottled water" in the United States since January 1, 1996.
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