Tom's of Maine $2.9 Million Toothpaste Settlement: Claims Closed, Awaiting Payment

The settlement resolves six lawsuits against Colgate-Palmolive Company and Tom's of Maine, Inc., including suits filed in Florida, New York state court, and federal courts in California and New York. They were brought together for settlement in Rabinowitz et al. v. Colgate-Palmolive Company et al., No. 2:25-cv-6996 (JMW), in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, before Judge James M. Wicks.

According to the settlement website, an FDA inspection of Tom's manufacturing facility in Sanford, Maine in May 2024 raised concerns that conditions there did not comply with the FDA's Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements. The lawsuits allege that Colgate and Tom's used deceptive and misleading practices in manufacturing, marketing, and selling Tom's toothpaste.

The companies say that after the inspection they reviewed pre-release testing data for about 4,900 finished toothpaste batches made over three years and found that no batch showed a safety risk to consumers. Colgate and Tom's deny all wrongdoing and liability, and no court has found that the toothpaste was unsafe or mislabeled. This is an economic refund case, not a personal injury case.

The class includes everyone in the United States who, between November 21, 2020 and March 6, 2026, bought one or more Tom's of Maine toothpaste products for their own use rather than for resale. The settlement defines the covered products as any Tom's toothpaste bought during the class period.

• Any flavor or formula of Tom's of Maine toothpaste counts.
• Store purchases and online purchases both count, as long as the product was bought in the United States.
• Resellers and distributors are not included.
• Colgate, Tom's, their affiliates, officers, and employees, and Judge Wicks and his family are excluded.

Other Tom's of Maine products such as deodorant and mouthwash are not part of this settlement. If you have questions about other toothpaste cases, see our Colgate toothpaste lawsuit page.

Colgate supplies the average manufacturer's suggested retail price of Tom's toothpaste during the class period to the administrator, so the no-receipt payment is roughly the price of a single tube. Class counsel asked for a fee of up to 33% of the $2.9 million fund, plus service awards of up to $1,000 for each person who brought a lawsuit. Notice and administration costs also come out of the fund.

If the approved claims add up to more than the money left, every payment is cut pro rata. If claims add up to less, the leftover money goes to Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit, as a cy pres award rather than being paid to claimants or returned to Colgate. Because payments are capped at three products, the most any single claimant can receive is the documented cost of three tubes of toothpaste. See when proof of purchase matters for how these tiers usually work.

Class members filed a claim form online on the official settlement website or by mail postmarked by July 6, 2026. Those without receipts could claim one product per household; those with receipts could upload them for up to three products. The claim period has closed.

1. If you filed, keep your confirmation and watch your email for questions from the administrator.
2. Payments will be distributed only if the court grants final approval and after any appeals are resolved.
3. Contact the Class Administrator at info@ToothpasteSettlement.com, 1-877-315-6779, or Rabinowitz et al. v. Colgate-Palmolive Company, et al., Class Administrator, P.O. Box 2897, Portland, OR 97208-2897.

The website is run by Epiq, the settlement administrator. Do not contact the court or Colgate about claims. Our guide to checking settlement status explains how to follow up.

As of September 2026, the claim period is over and the settlement website has not yet posted a final approval order or a payment date. The hearing was scheduled at the Central Islip courthouse, Courtroom 1020. If the court approves the deal, payments still wait for the appeal period to run.

If you bought Tom's toothpaste during the class period, did not file by July 6, 2026, and did not opt out, you will not get a payment and you have released the claims covered by the settlement. You can contact the administrator to ask whether late claims will be considered, but there is no guarantee.

People who opted out keep the right to sue on their own, though a claim over a few tubes of toothpaste is rarely worth an individual lawsuit. For what happens to money nobody claims, see unclaimed settlement money.

Separate claims about metals in toothpaste are tracked on our toothpaste heavy metals page; those are allegations, not findings. For another false advertising refund, see the Joint Juice settlement. Browse current open deals on our settlements list. For this settlement, check the official settlement website linked above for approval and payment updates.