DOC Cheese

News Milk

Supreme Court rules against DOC Kaas with cassation

7 March 2024 - Klaas van der Horst

The Supreme Court has ruled against DOC Kaas in cassation against more than 60 dropouts. The 'transaction sum' (also called merger bonus) that DMK transferred during the merger with DOC Kaas must also be paid to the successors. According to the Supreme Court, the transaction sum of €20 million in total may not be seen as a retention bonus. DOC Kaas says in a response...

Do you have a tip, suggestion or comment regarding this article? Let us know

DOC Kaas is disappointed about this the pronounciation. She accepts it, but with a feeling that things should have been different. "The ruling is disappointing for the DOC Kaas cooperative and its members. We remain of the opinion that we have indeed informed all our members and the former members involved in a timely and correct manner about the principles and conditions for payment of the transaction sum. These principles and conditions are also included in the Internal Regulations of the DOC Kaas UA cooperative

The judgment shows that the Supreme Court rules that these principles and conditions should have been included in the articles of association. Due to this formal judgment, former members of DOC Kaas now retain part of the transaction amount that they know well was not actually intended for them. This feels unfair to us. The Supreme Court is the final destination of the judiciary in the Netherlands and we will have to accept the judgment."

Not intended for beginners
The 63 former members are happy and relieved by the ruling. A refund of the merger bonus is definitely no longer an option. The group of farmers can keep its share of the bonus, plus statutory interest.

The final ruling no longer has any material consequences for DOC Kaas, the cooperative said. According to her, the claimed amount has already been transferred to the third party account of the plaintiffs' lawyer in 2021.

Another case in preparation
The Supreme Court's ruling does not mean that all proceedings surrounding DOC Kaas have been resolved. A process is still being prepared for a collective of 30 former members, who did not dare to resign at the time because DOC Kaas then indicated that it would withhold the paid transaction sum from the milk money at the end of membership, so that these dairy farmers receive a higher milk price from their preferred buyer. have gone wrong and have therefore suffered damage in the form of loss of income.
These dairy farmers were 'financially forced' to remain members by DOC Kaas' policy, they say. Now that it has been definitively determined by the Supreme Court that it was wrong, they can file a case, reports their lawyer Dinant in Biesebeek.

Call our customer service +0320(269)528

or mail to support@boerenbusiness.nl

do you want to follow us?

Receive our free Newsletter

Current market information in your inbox every day

Login/Register