Plaintiffs Expand Claims Against Kraft Heinz, Lactalis and BelGioioso in Dispute Over Polly-O’s Heritage

The document was submitted on August 19, 2026, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Case No. 1:26-cv-02130-EK-CHK. The defendants named in the complaint are BelGioioso Cheese Inc., Lactalis American Group Inc. and The Kraft Heinz Company.

The amended complaint is currently designated in the court records as a “proposed amended complaint.” Therefore, its submission to the court should not be interpreted as confirmation of the allegations contained in it or as evidence that the amended claims have been formally accepted by the court.

DairyNews previously reported that Staten Island resident Joseph Failla was seeking compensation from the companies that he estimated at approximately $1.5 billion. He represented himself in the original lawsuit without an attorney.

The proposed amended complaint does not specify a fixed amount of compensation. The plaintiffs state that the potential damages cannot reasonably be calculated without access to information about the defendants’ revenues, brand marketing expenditures, licensing practices and valuations assigned to the relevant assets in corporate transactions.

Joseph Failla has now been joined as a plaintiff by his sister, Deborah Ann LoPorto. Failla is also bringing claims as the nominated executor under the wills of his parents, Vincent and Frances Failla. According to the complaint, in August 2026 he commenced separate probate proceedings in the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court to obtain authority to administer the estates.

What the Plaintiffs Are Claiming

The proposed amended complaint clarifies that the Failla family is not claiming ownership of the cheese manufacturing facilities or the wholesale manufacturing business retained by the Pollio family. The dispute concerns the assets of the historic G. Pollio & Sons retail cheese store in Brooklyn.

The plaintiffs define these assets as including the store’s goodwill, the contractual right to operate under the G. Pollio & Sons name, images of the storefront, its origin story and the commercial identity associated with the retail business.

According to the plaintiffs, Vincent Failla acquired these assets in 1967 when he purchased the retail business. The cheese manufacturing operation remained with the Pollio family and was later sold to Kraft.

The Failla family alleges that subsequent transactions involving the manufacturing business could not have included the assets of the retail store because those assets already belonged to Vincent Failla. The plaintiffs claim that the defendants later used the store’s history, reputation and imagery to promote Polly-O products without authorization or compensation.

Four Causes of Action

The proposed amended complaint asserts four causes of action:

• a declaratory judgment establishing the scope of the 1967 transaction, ownership of the assets and their chain of title;
• unfair competition through the alleged misappropriation of the store’s goodwill;
• the alleged misappropriation of the G. Pollio & Sons trade name and associated commercial identity;
• unjust enrichment.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that the disputed assets were conveyed to Vincent Failla in 1967 and subsequently passed to his heirs. They are also seeking an injunction against misleading statements concerning the store’s history and any further use of assets determined to belong to the estates without a licence.

In addition, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial, an accounting of the financial benefits derived from the use of the disputed assets, restitution, disgorgement of benefits and a jury trial.

How Polly-O Passed to BelGioioso

In 2021, Kraft Heinz completed the sale of parts of its global cheese business to an affiliate of Groupe Lactalis. The total consideration was approximately $3.3 billion, including around $3.2 billion in cash. Rights to Polly-O were initially included in the transaction.

However, the U.S. Department of Justice required the Polly-O business to be divested due to competition concerns in the ricotta cheese market. As a result, the Polly-O business, including the worldwide rights to the brand, was to be transferred to BelGioioso Cheese. A federal court approved the related antitrust settlement in 2022.

In the proposed amended complaint, the plaintiffs allege that neither the Kraft-Lactalis transaction nor the subsequent transfer of Polly-O to BelGioioso could convey ownership of the historical assets of the Brooklyn retail store. These allegations remain subject to judicial review.

At the time of publication, the court had not determined the merits of the Failla family’s claims. The positions of Kraft Heinz, Lactalis American Group and BelGioioso Cheese regarding the proposed amended complaint were not included in the document provided to DairyNews.