Class-Action Suits Filed Against Monroe-Based Pete & Gerry’s Over Misleading Egg Labels

For Immediate Release:
September 9, 2026

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Pete and Gerry’s, the Monroe-based egg producer, faces two class-action lawsuits filed in New York and California today over claims that it misleadingly marketed its eggs as “free range” and “pasture raised.” The suits have been filed by PETA Foundation attorneys on behalf of consumers who allege they paid premium prices based on those labels.

At the center of the cases is drone footage of two Pete and Gerry’s supplier farms. The lawsuits argue that Pete and Gerry’s crams 20,000 hens into crowded sheds, leaving each chicken with just 1.5 square feet of floor space or less—making it nearly impossible for many to move, much less reach an exit. The drone footage, although filmed over several hours on a clear day when hens should be outside according to the company’s claims to consumers, showed that no hens left the barn at the first farm, and only a handful did at the second farm—inconsistent with the images on the company’s packaging that show hens in lush green fields and its website’s claim that the birds are “free to frolic under sunny skies.”

The lawsuits point out that, in addition to the thousands of hens crowded together, Pete and Gerry’s policies specify that barn doors may be closed during poor weather, certain stages of egg laying, or elevated bird flu risk. As a result, the lawsuits report, many hens may never make it outdoors at all. They allege that Pete and Gerry’s leverages consumer preferences for “humanely raised” eggs to justify getting buyers to pay more for the eggs they sell, despite the hens’ living conditions being far from humane.

“Pete and Gerry’s sells the promise of hens frolicking in sunny fields, but our footage shows birds packed by the tens of thousands who can’t even reach the door,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “These lawsuits aim to stop that deception, and PETA urges everyone to remember that the easiest way to prevent hens from suffering at all is by choosing vegan eggs or no eggs at all.”

Chickens form complex social structures, dream when they sleep, and worry about the future, just as humans do. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone thinking of making the switch.

The lawsuits seek damages, injunctive relief, and corrective advertising on behalf of consumers nationwide who purchased Pete and Gerry’s “free range” and “pasture raised” egg products.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and fear, a chicken is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.