Welcome to the Sara Lee Corporation Securities Litigation Website.

The following is a summary of information presented in more detail in the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement Thereof, Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Settlement Fairness Hearing ("Notice"), which Settlement Class Members should have received in the mail, and which you can access by clicking the box to the left. Since this is just a summary, you should read the full Notice for additional details.

Please read this information carefully. If you are a Settlement Class Member (as defined below), your rights will be affected by these proceedings and you may be entitled to receive benefits under a proposed $4,250,000 class action settlement.

If you purchased Sara Lee Corporation common stock during the time period August 1, 2002 through and including April 24, 2003 (the “Class Period”), then you could get a payment from a class action settlement.

Securities Brokers and other Nominees: Please see instructions on page 11 of the Notice.

SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING
The Court will hold a Settlement Fairness Hearing at 10:00 a.m. on January 26, 2010, at the United States District Court, for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, Courtroom 2341, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. At the Settlement Fairness Hearing, the Court also will consider the proposed Plan of Allocation for the proceeds of the settlement and the application of Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of expenses. The Court will take into consideration any written objections filed in accordance with the instructions at question 18 of the Notice (see link to left). The Court also may listen to people who have properly indicated, within the deadline identified above, an intention to speak at the hearing; but decisions regarding the conduct of the hearing will be made by the Court. See question 22 of the Notice (see link to left) for more information about speaking at the hearing. The Court may also decide how much to pay to Plaintiffs’ Counsel. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take.

You should be aware that the Court may change the date and time of the Settlement Fairness Hearing. Thus, if you want to come to the hearing, you should check with Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel before coming to be sure that the date and/or time has not changed.

WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
This Action was commenced on May 13, 2003, when John Gallo filed a putative class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of Sara Lee common stock during the time period August 1, 2002 through and including April 24, 2003. The Complaint contained allegations that the Defendants’ statements about Sara Lee included misstatements or omissions of material adverse facts regarding Sara Lee’s business, operations and management and the value of the Company common stock, and which statements allegedly enabled the Company to complete securities offerings, enabled the individual defendants and other insiders to sell their personally-held Sara Lee stock to the public, and caused the Plaintiff to purchase Sara Lee common stock at artificially inflated prices, and that the statements were made in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The lawsuit seeks money damages against the Defendants for violations of the federal securities laws.

The Defendants deny all allegations of misconduct contained in the Complaint, and deny having engaged in any wrongdoing whatsoever.

TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT
In exchange for the settlement and dismissal of the Action, the Defendants have agreed to pay, or to have their insurers pay, $4.25 million for the benefit of the Settlement Class. This Settlement Fund, after fees and expenses, is to be divided among all Settlement Class Members who send in valid Proof of Claim forms.

Your share of the fund will depend on the total Recognized Claims represented by the valid Proof of Claim forms that Settlement Class Members send in, how many shares of Sara Lee stock you bought, how much you paid for them, and when you bought and whether or when you sold them, and if so for how much you sold them.

See the Plan of Allocation beginning on page 9 of the Notice for more information on your Recognized Claim.

THE RIGHTS OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBERS
If you are a Settlement Class Member, you have the following options:

• FILE A PROOF OF CLAIM – To qualify for a payment, you must send in a timely completed Proof of Claim form with supporting documents (DO NOT SEND ORIGINALS) to the Claims Administrator. At the link on the left, you may get a Proof of Claim form. Please read the instructions carefully, fill out the Proof of Claim form, include all the documents the form asks for, sign it, and mail it to the Claims Administrator by first class mail, postmarked no later than February 25, 2010. The Claims Administrator needs all of the information requested in the Proof of Claim in order to determine what you may be entitled to.

• EXCLUDE YOURSELF FROM THE SETTLEMENT CLASS – To exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must send a signed letter by mail stating that you “request exclusion from the Settlement Class in In re Sara Lee Corporation Securities Litigation, No. 03-CV-3202.” Your letter should state the date(s), price(s), and number(s) of shares of all your purchases and sales of Sara Lee Corporation common stock during the Class Period. In addition, be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and your signature. You must mail your exclusion request postmarked no later than January 11, 2010 to:

  Sara Lee Corporation Securities Litigation EXCLUSIONS
  c/o Rust Consulting, Inc., Claims Administrator
  P.O. Box 2223
  Faribault, MN 55021-1623

  You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by e-mail. If you ask to be excluded, you will not get any settlement payment, and you cannot object to the settlement. You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit, and you may be able to sue (or continue to sue) the Defendants and the other Released Parties in the future.
  
  Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any rights to sue the Defendants and the other Released Parties for any and all Released Claims. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that case immediately. You must exclude yourself from this Settlement Class to continue your own lawsuit. Remember, the exclusion deadline is January 11, 2010.

• OBJECT – If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the settlement or any of its terms, the proposed Plan of Allocation and/or the application by Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel for an award of fees and expenses. You may write to the Court setting out your objection. You may give reasons why you think the Court should not approve any or all of the settlement terms or arrangements. The Court will consider your views if you file a proper objection within the deadline identified, and according to the following procedures.
  
  To object, you must send a signed letter stating that you object to the proposed settlement in the In re Sara Lee Corporation Securities Litigation, No. 03-CV-3202. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and your signature, identify the date(s), price(s), and number(s) of shares of all purchases and sales of Sara Lee common stock you made during the Class Period, and state the reasons why you object to the Settlement. Your objection must be filed with the Court and served on all the following counsel on or before January 11, 2010:

  Court Clerk of Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse 219 South Dearborn Street, 20th Floor Chicago, Illinois 60604

  Plaintiffs’ Counsel Representative Carol V. Gilden, Esq. Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC 190 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1705 Chicago, Illinois 60603

  Defendants’ Counsel Representative Howard S. Suskin, Esq. 353 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL 60654

  
  
  

  You do not need to go to the Settlement Fairness Hearing to have your written objection considered by the Court. At the Settlement Fairness Hearing, any Settlement Class Member who has not previously submitted a request for exclusion from the Settlement Class and who has complied with the procedures set out in this question 18 and question 22 of the Notice for filing with the Court and providing to the counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants a statement of an intention to appear at the Settlement Fairness Hearing may also appear and be heard, to the extent allowed by the Court, to state any objection to the settlement, the Plan of Allocation or Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of expenses. Any such objector may appear in person or arrange, at that objector’s expense, for a lawyer to represent the objector at the Hearing.

FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information regarding the Litigation, the Notice and how to file your claim may be obtained by contacting the Claims Administrator or reading through the Notice and Proof of Claim links at the left. You may also contact Plaintiffs’ Counsel at the addresses listed on the Contact link at the left.

IMPORTANT: THIS SITE IS NOT OPERATED BY SARA LEE CORPORATION. THIS SETTLEMENT IS SUPERVISED BY PLAINTIFFS’ COUNSEL. THE CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR HANDLES ALL ASPECTS OF CLAIM PROCESSING. THIS IS THE AUTHORIZED WEBSITE FOR THIS SETTTLEMENT. PLEASE DO NOT RELY UPON OTHER SITES THAT SET OUT DIFFERENT AND UNAUTHORIZED INFORMATION.