About 150 Pilot Customers Reject Settlement

About 150 of the roughly 5,500 Pilot Flying J customers eligible for a rebate-fraud class-action lawsuit settlement have formally declined to take part, a Pilot spokeswoman said Oct. 24.

Many of those who have opted out of the settlement have filed or plan to file civil actions against Pilot, the nation’s largest truck-stop fuel chain.

Pilot is expected to pay an estimated $50 million to the customers included in the settlement, according to the settlement’s lead plaintiffs’ attorney, Don Barrett.

The settlement, reached in July, came after the FBI raided Pilot’s Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters in April. The FBI alleged in a 120-page affidavit that Pilot sales executives schemed to cheat customers out of their fuel rebates.

Since April, seven executives have pleaded guilty to federal charges, and several others have been placed on administrative leave.