Aramark Capital One Arena $4.5M Venue Fee Settlement

What Changed Recently?

On September 14, 2026, Judge Shana Frost Matini of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia granted preliminary approval of the settlement in Garner v. Aramark Management Services Limited Partnership, No. 2025-CAB-007444, which opened the claim period. Aramark had until September 21 to give the administrator its list of known customer email addresses, and email notice was due by October 5, 2026.

The lawsuit, filed in 2025, alleged that Aramark, which runs food and beverage concessions at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., added a 3% “venue fee” to purchases without adequately disclosing it, in violation of the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act. Aramark denies any wrongdoing, fault or liability, and the court has not ruled for either side. The parties agreed to settle in 2026 to avoid the risk and expense of further litigation.

Who Qualifies?

The settlement class includes all individuals in the United States who made a purchase from Aramark at Capital One Arena and paid a venue fee between October 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025. That covers food, beverages and other items bought from the arena’s Aramark-operated concessions, regardless of the event, whether a Wizards or Capitals game, a concert or anything else held there.

Purchases at other arenas or stadiums are not part of this settlement, and neither are purchases at Capital One Arena outside the October 2024 to December 2025 window.

How Much Can You Get?

Aramark is paying $4,500,000 into a non-reversionary fund, so none of the money goes back to the company. Before class members are paid, the fund covers court-approved costs: administration (estimated at about $74,985), attorneys’ fees of up to one-third of the fund ($1.5 million) plus expenses, and a service award of up to $5,000 for the class representative. What remains is the net settlement fund.

The net fund is split equally among everyone who files a valid claim. There is no fixed per-person figure, and the amount does not depend on how much a claimant spent or how many times they paid the fee: the more valid claims filed, the smaller each payment. If money is left over after uncashed payments expire, it can go to a second distribution to claimants, and any final remainder goes to the nonprofit Public Justice.

What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?

No receipts or credit card statements are required, but the online claim form requires a Settlement Claim ID. That ID is printed in the email notice the administrator sent to the customer email addresses Aramark handed over after preliminary approval; the notice calls it the recipient’s “unique Settlement Claim ID.” The claim form also asks for a name, mailing address and email address, and for initials confirming the claimant bought food, drinks or other items from Aramark concessions at Capital One Arena and paid the venue fee during the class period. The claimant signs under penalty of perjury, and the form warns that claims may be verified, audited and reviewed by the court.

The printable claim form posted with the court documents has a Claimant ID field “from your notice” that, unlike the name, address and email fields, is not labeled required, and the draft form attached to the settlement agreement called the ID optional. A class member who did not get the email notice therefore has a paper route: printing the form and mailing it to the administrator by the deadline. The settlement agreement says every claim is subject to reasonable verification against the customer list Aramark gave the administrator.