Charity Clark Settlement With UniFirst: $60,000 and Fee Refunds
- Payment to the state
- $60,000
By Settlement Insight Data Desk · Reviewed by Leonard GoldbergPublished
Charity Clark’s UniFirst Settlement: $60,000 to Vermont, Early-Termination Fees Refunded to Businesses Locked Into Auto-Renewing Uniform Contracts — and No Claim Form in the October 14 Announcement
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The answer: what the Charity Clark settlement with UniFirst does
As of October 22, 2026, the only official text is the Vermont Attorney General’s October 14, 2026 press release. It says Attorney General Charity Clark “today announced a settlement with UniFirst, a provider of workplace uniforms, protective clothing, and facility services,” and that the settlement “resolves an investigation into the company for failing to comply with Vermont’s automatic renewal law.” The release presents this as the AG’s finding; UniFirst’s own statement, if any, is not quoted.
The settlement has four parts, all from the release:
- No more auto-renewal clauses. UniFirst “will stop including automatic renewal language in its contracts,” so Vermont businesses decide for themselves whether to keep the service.
- A notice to every customer. The company “will also provide notice to all customers advising them of the change.”
- Refunds of early-termination charges. “Businesses charged for early termination of a contract during the period in which the company was out of compliance will be refunded.”
- $60,000 to the state. “The company will also pay the State of Vermont $60,000.”
The $60,000 goes to the State of Vermont, not to customers. The money that can reach a business is the early-termination refund.
Who gets money, how much and when
Who: businesses that UniFirst charged for ending a contract early during the period when, according to the AG, the company was out of compliance with the auto-renewal law. The release talks about Vermont businesses; it does not mention refunds for anyone outside Vermont.
How much: the release gives no refund amount and no total. A refund is described as a refund of the early-termination charge, so the figure would be whatever that business paid, but the AG has not published a formula.
When and how: not stated. The release does not define the non-compliance period, does not say whether refunds are automatic, and gives no payment date. The settlement document itself was not posted with the release, so as of October 22, 2026 these details are not public.
Who gets nothing: UniFirst customers who never paid an early-termination charge. For them, the change is the end of automatic renewal language and the customer notice.
What to do: no claim form, one phone number
The October 14 release describes no claim form, no website and no deadline. What it does give is a contact: “If you are a consumer and believe you may have been impacted by a company that did not follow Vermont’s automatic renewal law, you can contact the Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Assistance Program by calling 800-649-2424 or AGO.CAP@vermont.gov for assistance.”
If your business paid UniFirst to get out of a contract early, three practical steps:
- Find the contract, the invoice or statement showing the early-termination charge, and proof of payment.
- Watch for UniFirst’s customer notice about the change; the settlement requires one to go to all customers.
- If you hear nothing, call the Consumer Assistance Program at 800-649-2424 or AGO.CAP@vermont.gov and ask how refunds under the UniFirst settlement are handled.
The same number works for auto-renewal complaints about other companies: the AG’s office points anyone who thinks a company did not follow the law to it.
Is a UniFirst notice or refund message real?
A letter from UniFirst telling you that automatic renewal language is being dropped is expected: the settlement requires the company to notify all customers. A refund of an early-termination charge is also expected for businesses that paid one.
The release describes no fee, no form and no third-party administrator. A message that asks you to pay something, hand over bank login details or click a link to “claim” a UniFirst settlement payment is not something the AG has described. Check it by calling the Consumer Assistance Program at 800-649-2424 or AGO.CAP@vermont.gov, using the number on ago.vermont.gov, not one in the message.
Who is Vermont’s current attorney general?
Charity Clark. Every release cited here is issued in her name.
Where can I find the latest press releases from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office? On the office’s Press Releases page at ago.vermont.gov, where the UniFirst release is listed under October 14, 2026.
Searches for a “Charity Clark settlement” also turn up other 2026 cases. They are separate matters with their own rules:
- Meta, August 26, 2026: “Meta will pay Vermont $92,700,152” as part of a multistate deal; nationally Meta will pay “up to $17.1 billion -- with 70 percent, or $12.2 billion, guaranteed now.” The release said the settlement was “still pending court approval.” It is a state settlement over Instagram’s design, not a payment program for individual users.
- Sandoz, October 1, 2026: Vermont joined states seeking approval of a $469 million generic-drug settlement; “Vermont will receive $358,000 from Sandoz.” Consumers who bought a generic prescription drug between May 2009 and December 2019 are told to call 1-866-290-0182 or visit AGGenericDrugs.com.
- Washington County Mental Health Services, September 29, 2026: a Medicaid settlement in which the agency “will pay $60,661.50 in restitution and penalties.” It is a different $60,000-range settlement and has nothing to do with UniFirst.
Why a uniform contract is a consumer-protection case
Vermont’s automatic renewal law, according to the AG, “went into effect in 2019” and “requires companies to provide conspicuous disclosure, notice, and opportunity to cancel a contract before any contract spanning more than a year is automatically renewed.”
The UniFirst case shows that the law covers business customers, not only household subscriptions. Clark’s statement makes that explicit: “Vermont’s automatic renewal law is there to make sure that consumers and businesses can make an informed decision about whether to continue a contract, rather than automatically assuming the costs of a new term.”
The pattern the AG targets is a multi-year service contract that renews itself, plus a fee to get out early. Here the remedy runs in both directions: the renewal clause goes, and fees collected while the company was out of compliance go back. The $60,000 payment to the state is small next to the Meta money, but for a business that paid an early-termination charge, the refund is the part of this Charity Clark settlement that matters.
