Published
August 4, 2026
This settlement resolves a securities class action accusing organic-food maker Hain Celestial of hiding the sales concessions behind its growth and booking the revenue too early — allegations the company and four individual defendants deny, and that no court has ruled on. If you bought Hain common stock or call options, or sold put options, between November 5, 2013 and February 10, 2017, you can claim a share of $35 million by October 13, 2026.
Current Status
Claims are open. The claim form must be postmarked or received no later than October 13, 2026, and the deadline to exclude yourself or object was October 7, 2026. The court has not yet approved the settlement: the Settlement Hearing is scheduled for October 28, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, to be held by telephone. No payment date has been announced, and none can be, because distribution happens only after the court approves the settlement, any appeals are resolved, and the administrator finishes processing claims. If you traded Hain securities in the class period, the action to take now is to gather your brokerage records and file, since a claim filed on time costs nothing and preserves your place in a distribution you would otherwise miss.
Status
Claims Open
settlement hearing October 28, 2026 · not yet approved
Claim Deadline
October 13, 2026
postmarked or received · online filing available
Estimated Payout
~$0.18 per share
estimate only · about $0.28 per allegedly damaged share before court-awarded fees and expenses · actual payments are pro rata and no distribution is made below $10
Proof Required
Yes
broker confirmations or account statements for every reported transaction — self-generated spreadsheets are not accepted
What Changed Recently?
This settlement arrives after a nine-year fight that twice looked over. The case was filed in 2016 and dismissed in 2019, revived by the Second Circuit in December 2021, dismissed again in September 2023, and revived a second time on September 29, 2025, when the Second Circuit found that falsity, scienter and loss causation had all been adequately pleaded and sent the case back for discovery. The mandate issued that December, defendants answered in January 2026, and discovery began.A first mediation in October 2022 had ended without a deal. The parties tried again on April 24, 2026, the mediator issued a proposal on April 29, and the parties accepted it on May 4. They signed the Stipulation on June 25, 2026, and notice went out to the class on July 27, 2026.
The court did not decide in favor of either side. Defendants have denied and continue to deny every claim, deny any wrongdoing or violation of law, and deny that the class suffered any damages or that Hain's share price was artificially affected. The $35 million is being paid using insurance proceeds.
What the Case Alleged
Hain Celestial markets and sells organic and natural food and personal-care products, selling mainly through specialty and natural food distributors, supermarkets and natural food stores. The operative complaint alleged that during the class period Hain offered its largest U.S. distributors significant concessions to buy substantial quantities of product ahead of their normal purchasing patterns — what the complaint characterized as pull-forward or channel stuffing — and that these arrangements were not disclosed to investors as the reason behind the company's apparently robust sales.The complaint further alleged that Hain improperly and prematurely recognized revenue on those undisclosed sales concessions in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, allegedly inflating reported results for fiscal 2014 and 2015 and the first three quarters of fiscal 2016. The named defendants were Hain and four individuals: Irwin D. Simon, Pasquale Conte, John Carroll and Stephen J. Smith. These are allegations that were never tested at trial, all defendants deny them, and no court has found any defendant liable.
Who Qualifies?
The Settlement Class covers all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Hain publicly traded common stock, and/or exchange traded call and/or put options on that stock, during the period from November 5, 2013 through February 10, 2017, both dates inclusive, and were allegedly damaged as a result.A few points decide most eligibility questions:
- Options count. Call options must have been purchased or acquired during the class period; put options must have been sold or written during it.
- Holding Hain through a mutual fund does not make you a class member. You have to have bought or sold in your own account, though the fund itself may be a class member.
- Receiving a notice does not mean you are eligible. The parties have no access to your trading records, which is why a claim form and documentation are required.
How Much Can You Get?
The settlement creates a $35,000,000 fund plus interest. After deduction of court-approved attorneys' fees, litigation expenses, notice and administration costs and taxes, the remainder — the Net Settlement Fund — is divided among claimants whose claim forms are found eligible.The notice gives two estimates, both of which assume every eligible investor files a claim. Before deductions, the average recovery works out to roughly $0.28 per allegedly damaged share of Hain common stock. If the court awards the fees and expenses being requested, that average falls to roughly $0.18 per allegedly damaged share. Counsel are seeking attorneys' fees of up to 33.3% of the fund, or $11,655,000, plus litigation expenses of up to $950,000.
Treat both numbers as what they are: averages across a hypothetical, not a per-share entitlement. Your actual payment depends on your Recognized Claim relative to everyone else's, and the notice is explicit that the allocation formulas are not a damages analysis and are not intended to estimate what anyone will be paid. Two further limits matter. Payments are strictly pro rata, so if total recognized claims exceed the Net Settlement Fund, everyone is scaled down. And the Plan of Allocation makes no distribution at all to a claimant whose prorated share calculates to less than $10.00.
The Trap: Selling Too Early Means a Zero Claim
This is the detail most likely to surprise an otherwise eligible investor, and it is worth checking before you spend time on the form.Being inside the class period is not by itself enough. The Plan of Allocation compensates losses caused by three alleged corrective disclosures, released after market close on January 21, 2016, August 15, 2016 and February 10, 2017, which the complaint says moved Hain's price on January 22, 2016, August 16, 2016 and February 13, 2017. To have a compensable loss you generally had to still be holding the position through at least one of those dates. The plan states it plainly for stock: any share sold before January 22, 2016 has a Recognized Loss Amount of zero. The same logic applies to options that expired before that date.
So an investor who bought in 2014 and sold at a real loss in 2015 is a class member, is bound by the release, and still recovers nothing here. That is not an error in the plan — it reflects the securities-law principle that a recoverable loss has to be caused by the disclosure of the allegedly misrepresented information, not by ordinary price movement.
One more quirk worth knowing: the form asks for purchases made from February 11, 2017 through May 12, 2017, the 90-day lookback window. Those are requested only so the administrator can confirm you reported everything. They fall outside the class period and are not eligible for recovery.
What Proof Is Required?
Documentation is mandatory for every transaction you report, and this is the most common reason securities claims get delayed or rejected. Acceptable proof is broker confirmation slips, broker account statements, or an authorized statement from your broker containing the same transactional information found in a confirmation slip — or other documentation the Claims Administrator deems adequate.Self-generated emails and spreadsheets are expressly not sufficient. Claimants bear the burden of establishing the right to a recovery, and the notice states directly that the parties do not have information about your transactions. You will also need to report your beginning holdings as of the open of trading on November 5, 2013 and your ending holdings as of the close on May 12, 2017, each with documentation, and to certify the form under penalty of perjury.
If you file online you can upload supporting files during the process. If your records will not upload, the confirmation page provides a transmittal letter you can print and mail with your documentation. Note that a claim is not considered submitted until you reach the confirmation page and receive a confirmation email, so do not close the window mid-process.
What Is the Deadline?
The claim form must be postmarked or received no later than October 13, 2026. Claims may be submitted online through the official settlement website or mailed to the Claims Administrator.Two earlier deadlines have already passed. Requests for exclusion had to be mailed so they were received by October 7, 2026, and that was the only route to preserve a separate lawsuit — with the caveat, stated in the notice, that an individual suit filed now might be barred by the statutes of limitations or repose. Objections to the settlement, the Plan of Allocation or the fee request were also due October 7, 2026, as were notices of intention to appear at the hearing.
How Do You Take Action?
File the claim form on the official settlement website, Hain Celestial Securities Settlement, administered by Verita Global, LLC under the court's direction. Filing is free.Practically, that means: pull your brokerage records for the full window, from November 5, 2013 through May 12, 2017, before you start; list every purchase and acquisition and every sale, whether it produced a profit or a loss, since omitting transactions can get a claim rejected; upload your documentation; and complete the process to the confirmation page. If you are filing for more than one entity, submit a separate claim form for each. Institutional filers with large transaction volumes can use the electronic filing route described on the site.
Brokers and other nominees who held Hain securities for beneficial owners have their own court-ordered obligations to pass the notice along or supply the administrator with holder information, on a short deadline, and can seek reimbursement of documented costs.
What Happens Next?
The Settlement Hearing is set for October 28, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, by telephone, before the Eastern District of New York. At that hearing the court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, whether the Plan of Allocation should be approved, and whether to grant the fee and expense request. The notice cautions that the date, time or format can change without a further individual mailing, so check the official website before relying on it.Approval alone does not release money. The Effective Date arrives only when the approval order becomes final and is no longer subject to appeal and the settlement amount has been paid. Distributions follow after that, once claims processing is complete. No payment date had been announced as of August 4, 2026.
If money remains in the fund at least six months after the initial distribution, the administrator may redistribute it among claimants who cashed their checks, repeating until further distribution is uneconomical; any final remainder is to be divided between two non-profit organizations, the Consumer Federation of America and the Council for Economic Education, or another organization the court approves.
Sources and Verification
• Official settlement website, claim form and electronic filing instructions — Hain Celestial Securities Settlement, administered by Verita Global, LLC• Notice of Pendency of Class Action, Proposed Settlement, and Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses, dated July 27, 2026 (class definition, $35,000,000 fund, the $0.28 and $0.18 average-recovery estimates, deadlines, Plan of Allocation and inflation tables) — embedded below
• Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, dated June 25, 2026, available on the official settlement website
• In re The Hain Celestial Group Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 2:16-cv-04581-JS-LGD, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Hon. Lee G. Dunst), including the procedural history and the Second Circuit's September 29, 2025 opinion remanding the case
Questions
I bought Hain stock during the class period but sold it in 2015. Do I get anything?
No. Under the proposed Plan of Allocation, any share sold before January 22, 2016 has a Recognized Loss Amount of zero. The plan compensates losses caused by the alleged corrective disclosures, so you generally had to still hold the shares through at least one of those disclosure dates. Buying and selling entirely inside the class period, before the first alleged corrective disclosure, produces no recognized loss even though you were technically a class member.
Why does the claim form ask about purchases after the class period ended?
Purchases from February 11, 2017 through the close of trading on May 12, 2017 fall in the 90-day lookback period. The notice says that information is requested only so the Claims Administrator can confirm you reported all relevant transactions. Those purchases are outside the class period, are not eligible for a recovery, and are not used to calculate Recognized Loss Amounts.
Is there a minimum payment?
Yes. The Plan of Allocation says the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated only among claimants whose prorated payment calculates to $10.00 or greater. If your calculated share comes to less than $10.00, no distribution will be made to you.
Can I use a spreadsheet of my own trades as documentation?
No. The claim form states that self-generated emails or spreadsheets are not sufficient. You need broker confirmation slips, broker account statements, or an authorized statement from your broker containing the same transactional information, or other documentation the Claims Administrator deems adequate. Claimants bear the burden of establishing their right to a recovery, and the parties do not have your trading records.
What happens if I do nothing?
You get no payment and you still give up your claims. Settlement Class Members who do not exclude themselves are bound by the judgment and the releases whether or not they file a claim. To keep the right to sue separately you had to mail an exclusion request so it was received by October 7, 2026, and the notice warns that a later individual lawsuit could be time-barred.
Are the option positions really covered?
Yes, within limits. The class covers exchange traded call and put options on Hain common stock as well as the stock itself. Call options must have been purchased or acquired during the class period, and put options must have been sold or written during it. Transactions in options that expired before January 22, 2016 have a Recognized Loss Amount of zero, and the notice includes per-series inflation and deflation tables that drive the calculation.
Official Settlement Notice
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount
$35,000,000
funded with insurance proceeds
Case Title
In re The Hain Celestial Group Inc. Securities Litigation
Case Number
2:16-cv-04581-JS-LGD
Court
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York — Hon. Lee G. Dunst
Class Period
November 5, 2013 – February 10, 2017
both dates inclusive · Hain common stock and exchange traded call and put options
Settlement Hearing
October 28, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. ET
held by telephone — dial-in details are on the official settlement website
Administrator
Verita Global, LLC
Official Website
Hain Celestial Securities Settlement
