Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket chain, is a defendant in a wide range of active and recently resolved cases, and the Kroger lawsuits worth knowing about fall into a handful of buckets: a $20.8 million payroll wage settlement, a roughly $1.4 billion opioid deal, a blocked $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons that spawned its own breach-of-contract fight, a $75.6 million personal injury verdict in Michigan, a growing wave of overtime misclassification class actions, and a steady stream of EEOC, data privacy, and consumer labeling claims. Some are closed. Many are not.
Payroll Wage Settlement of $20.8 Million
The largest recent employment payout stems from Kroger’s rollout of a new cloud-based payroll system called MyInfo/MyTime. In Wilder v. The Kroger Co. (Case No. 1:22-cv-00681), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, employees alleged that glitches and outages between September 2022 and May 2023 caused widespread failures to pay workers for hours already worked.1Bloomberg Law. Kroger Workers Seek Court Nod for Wage Deal Worth $20.8 Million
The $20.8 million deal covers roughly 47,000 employees across Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia. Kroger had already repaid more than $10 million in unpaid or delayed wages, benefits, and paid time off identified through a Deloitte audit, and an additional $5.27 million was set aside for distribution to class members based on the severity of the discrepancies each worker experienced.2Frantz Ward LLP. Ohio Federal Court Preliminarily Approves $20 Million Settlement for Kroger Wage and Hour Lawsuit The court gave preliminary approval on February 20, 2025, with a fairness hearing set for June 24, 2025.1Bloomberg Law. Kroger Workers Seek Court Nod for Wage Deal Worth $20.8 Million Final approval status is not confirmed in the available record.
Overtime Misclassification Class Actions
Kroger has been sued more than 20 times since 2020 over allegations that it labels frontline workers as overtime-exempt “managers” while assigning them manual, non-supervisory duties such as stocking shelves, filling online orders, and running registers.3FOX19. Kroger Sued: Cheating Overtime Retail’s Dirty Little Secret The theory across the suits is consistent: calling a job “assistant store manager,” “e-commerce manager,” or “deli manager” lets Kroger avoid paying time-and-a-half for 50- and 60-hour weeks. Kroger denies the allegations and says no court has ruled that it violated labor law or misclassified employees.
E-Commerce Manager Suits
In late February and early March 2026, the firm Morgan & Morgan filed two class actions alleging Kroger misclassified e-commerce managers as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The first was filed February 25, 2026, in a Colorado district court against King Soopers; the second on March 2, 2026, in a Washington state district court.4Grocery Dive. Kroger Two Lawsuits E-Commerce Worker Classification Both suits claim the workers spend their time filling online orders rather than making hiring or firing decisions, and each estimates at least 100 eligible plaintiffs. A related Arizona suit involving Kroger subsidiary Fry’s Food Stores, brought by an “e-commerce supervisor,” was finalizing a settlement as of late 2025.3FOX19. Kroger Sued: Cheating Overtime Retail’s Dirty Little Secret
Assistant and Department Managers
A collective action involving roughly 1,500 former assistant store managers, initiated by plaintiff Thomas Schell in 2021 and consolidated from suits in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin, has been pending in the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.5Cincinnati Enquirer. Lawsuit Accuses Kroger of Using Assistant Managers to Save Money Earlier in 2025, Kroger settled a related suit involving 2,500 current and former assistant store managers on undisclosed terms.3FOX19. Kroger Sued: Cheating Overtime Retail’s Dirty Little Secret
At Kroger’s Chicago subsidiary Mariano’s, two 2020 lawsuits brought by deli, hot foods, meat, and bakery managers were combined into DePyper et al v. Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. et al (Case No. 1:20-cv-02317), representing more than 100 plaintiffs. On February 3, 2026, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois approved a $3.3 million settlement.6Law360. Ill. Judge OKs $3.3M Deal in Mariano’s Managers OT Suit
Opioid Settlement of $1.4 Billion
As a major pharmacy operator, Kroger faced thousands of claims from states, counties, cities, and Native American tribes over its role in the opioid epidemic. On September 8, 2023, Kroger announced an agreement in principle to pay roughly $1.4 billion to resolve substantially all of those claims.7AP News. Opioid Crisis Settlement Kroger Up to $1.2 billion goes to states and their subdivisions for opioid abatement, $36 million goes to tribes, and about $177 million covers attorneys’ fees, with payments spread over 11 years beginning December 2023.8SEC. Kroger Co. Opioid Settlement Agreement Disclosure Kroger has not admitted wrongdoing.
The formal Kroger Multistate Settlement Agreement was finalized in December 2024.9National Opioid Settlement. Kroger Co. Settlement By June 2025, roughly $96.6 million had been distributed to 924 government beneficiaries, about 93% of allocated funds for that period.10National Opioid Settlement. Kroger Opioid Payment Dashboard Several states cut their own deals outside the national framework. Kentucky announced a $110 million settlement in January 2025 after alleging Kroger’s more than 100 in-state pharmacies dispensed 444 million opioid doses between 2006 and 2019 without an internal monitoring system.11Kentucky Attorney General. Kentucky Attorney General Announces $110 Million Kroger Settlement Washington State reached a $47.5 million deal payable over 11 years.12Washington Attorney General. Kroger Opioid Settlement
Blocked Albertsons Merger and the Delaware Fight
In October 2022, Kroger announced a $24.6 billion deal to acquire Albertsons. The Federal Trade Commission challenged it, and on December 10, 2024, Judge Adrienne Nelson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued a preliminary injunction blocking the deal, calling it “presumptively unlawful” because the two companies “engage in substantial head-to-head competition and the proposed merger would remove that competition.”13The New York Times. Kroger Albertsons Merger FTC Within an hour, a Washington State court blocked the merger on similar grounds. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser had also filed a state suit in February 2024 citing concerns about the combined company’s dominance across the state’s 253 Kroger and Albertsons stores.14Colorado Attorney General. Grocery Merger That claim was later dismissed as moot.
Albertsons terminated the merger on December 11, 2024, and the same day sued Kroger in the Delaware Court of Chancery for willful breach of contract. Albertsons claims Kroger refused to divest enough stores and ignored regulator feedback, and it seeks the $600 million contractual termination fee plus “billions of dollars in damages.”15Albertsons Companies. Albertsons Files Lawsuit Against Kroger for Breach of Merger Agreement Kroger filed counterclaims on March 25, 2025, alleging Albertsons executives secretly coordinated with divestiture buyer C&S Wholesale Grocers in a way that undercut regulatory strategy and manufactured a paper trail to justify suing.16Kroger Investor Relations. Kroger Files Legal Response, Brings Counterclaims Against Albertsons The FTC’s own case was closed in late December 2024 after the companies jointly moved to dismiss.17Federal Trade Commission. The Kroger Company/Albertsons Companies, Inc., In the Matter of The Delaware litigation remains pending.
$75.6 Million Michigan Refrigerant Verdict
In June 2025, a jury in Oakland County Circuit Court awarded $75.6 million to Brian Mierendorf, a 37-year-old HVAC technician who lost both hands after a refrigerant line exploded during maintenance at a Kroger store in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.18Marko Law. $75 Million Jury Verdict Secured in Record-Breaking Michigan Premises Liability Case His attorneys argued Kroger failed to warn him of dangerous conditions, failed to inspect the refrigerant lines, and failed to install a shut-off valve within a reasonable distance.19The Kansas City Star. Man Wins Over $75 Million After In-Store Refrigerant Explosion The verdict is believed to be one of the largest premises liability awards in Michigan history. No appeal had been publicly reported as of mid-2026.
Prescription Drug Pricing Class Action
In Kirkbride v. The Kroger Co. (Case No. 2:21-cv-00022-ALM-EPD), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, plaintiffs allege Kroger inflated the co-payments customers paid for prescription drugs purchased with insurance.20Top Class Actions. Kroger Agrees to $17M Class Action Settlement Over Prescription Drug Prices The proposed class covers anyone who used insurance to pay for prescriptions at Kroger from December 9, 2018, through the date class notice is sent. A $17 million settlement was reported, but on April 9, 2025, Judge Algenon L. Marbley granted class certification after a three-day evidentiary hearing, indicating the case is still working through the court rather than fully approved.21FindLaw. Kirkbride v. The Kroger Co. Proposed payouts would be pro rata based on each class member’s estimated or actual out-of-pocket expenditures during the class period.
EEOC Discrimination Cases
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has brought several enforcement actions against Kroger entities over disability and religious discrimination. The most recent is an April 2026 suit against Kroger Texas L.P. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Civil Action No. 4:26-cv-02448). The agency alleges that a self-service checkout attendant with neuropathy, who had used a walker on the job for three years, was told by new management to stop using it, placed on leave, and fired when she could not produce medical documentation supporting the leave.22Insurance Journal. EEOC Files Suit Against Kroger Texas Over Disability Discrimination
Earlier EEOC settlements include a $180,000 payment in 2022 by Kroger Limited Partnership I in Conway, Arkansas, over allegations that two employees were fired for refusing to wear an apron bearing a symbol they believed represented support for the LGBTQ+ community; Kroger denied the allegations and agreed to create a formal religious accommodation policy.23EEOC. EEOC and Kroger Limited Partnership I Resolve Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Kroger paid $40,000 in 2019 in a Jonesboro, Georgia case involving an employee with a visual impairment who was allegedly denied accommodation during computer-based orientation and then terminated.24EEOC. Kroger to Pay $40,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit Kroger Company of Michigan paid $33,000 in 2016 after allegedly firing a Howell cashier whose back impairment restrictions were deemed permanent, despite prior accommodations.25EEOC. Kroger to Pay $33,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit
Data Breach and Privacy Cases
In late 2020, Kroger suffered a data breach through its Accellion File Transfer Appliance, exposing names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, insurance details, and medical history of pharmacy and clinic customers as well as current and former employees.26Becker’s Hospital Review. Lawsuit Alleges Kroger Left Employee, Customer Data Vulnerable Before Breach A federal class action, Cochran v. The Kroger Co. (Case No. 5:21-cv-01887-EJD, N.D. Cal.), produced a $5 million settlement. Class members could claim cash payments estimated between $18 and $182 depending on their state, two years of credit monitoring, or up to $5,000 for documented losses. By mid-2022, payouts were running at roughly $30 per class member, and Kroger confirmed it had stopped using the Accellion system.27Top Class Actions. Kroger Data Breach $5M Class Action Settlement
A separate action, Jane Doe v. The Kroger Co., filed in November 2023, alleged Kroger used the Meta Pixel tracking tool on its pharmacy website and transmitted sensitive patient data, including medication names and medical conditions, to Meta Platforms without consent. The consolidated complaints were voluntarily dismissed without prejudice in February 2024.28Law360. Kroger Pharmacy Customers Dismiss Consolidated Data Sharing Class Suits
Consumer Product Labeling Suits
Several class actions have targeted Kroger’s private-label products. In July 2025, Antossyan v. The Kroger Co. (Case No. 2:25-cv-05165) was filed in California, alleging Simple Truth Fruit & Grain Bars are falsely labeled “preservative-free” despite containing citric acid, which the plaintiff says the FDA and USDA recognize as a preservative. The complaint contends consumers paid roughly 1.5 times the price of competing products based on that claim.29ClassAction.org. Class Action Lawsuit Claims Simple Truth Fruit and Grain Bars Falsely Advertised as Preservative Free Other recent complaints include a June 2024 suit over Kroger fruit cups advertised as being in “100% Juice,” a February 2024 case challenging “naturally flavored” claims on blueberry cereal bars, and a November 2023 suit alleging that eggs labeled “Farm Fresh” came from caged chickens in industrial facilities.30ClassAction.org. The Kroger Co. Class Action Lawsuits
Colorado No-Poach Claim Dismissed
Colorado’s attorney general alleged that a 2022 agreement between King Soopers and Albertsons during a worker strike amounted to an illegal “no-poach” deal violating striking employees’ rights. On February 23, 2026, Second Judicial District Judge Andrew Luxen dismissed the claim, ruling that the dispute belonged before the National Labor Relations Board rather than a state court.31Courthouse News Service. Judge Tosses Claims Albertsons and Kroger Violated Workers’ Rights With No-Poach Strike Deal
The Bigger Employment Picture
According to the Good Jobs First Violation Tracker, Kroger and its subsidiaries have accumulated $53.4 million in penalties across 64 employment-related records as of mid-2026. Wage-and-hour violations account for $27.7 million across 30 cases, and employment discrimination penalties total $24 million across 11 cases. The largest single entries are the $20.8 million payroll settlement in 2025 and a $16 million employment discrimination penalty recorded in 2008.32Violation Tracker. Kroger – Violation Tracker Those totals do not include the opioid settlement or product liability verdicts, which fall under other categories.