Model wins $15.6 million Nestlé payout

Swissinfo

Swiss food giant Nestlé has been told to pay $15.6 million to a man whose image was used without his permission for many years on coffee jar labels.

Nestlé said on Tuesday that it plans to appeal the decision - worth SFr18.6 million - which was made by a court in Glendale in California.

Russell Christoff, a former model, came across his likeness on jars of Taster’s Choice coffee while out shopping in 2002.

He had originally posed in a two-hour Nestlé photo shoot in 1986, but thought that nothing had come of it.

A legal dispute with Nestlé USA followed, during which 58-year-old Christoff turned down the company’s $100,000 settlement offer and Nestlé USA declined his offer to settle for $8.5 million.

Last week a Los Angeles Superior Court jury ordered Nestlé USA to pay Christoff $15.6 million for using the image without his permission and profiting from it, said Nestlé on Tuesday.

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