A verdict is issued or a settlement is reached The deadline to be excluded from the Capital One deal was July 7, 2022, while the deadline to file a claim was Sept. If you meet the criteria of class membership - you bought the defective product, say, or had your personal information exposed in a data breach - you generally don't have to do anything additional to be included in the suit.īut you can request to be excluded, for whatever reason - because you want to file your own separate lawsuit, for example.Īn opt-out deadline is provided, usually well before the deadline to file a claim. Allow class members to opt out of the suit or settlement In the Roundup case, for example, you can go to to see if you qualify to join the case. If the members are not known, as in the case of users of Roundup weed killer - who may be eligible for part of a $45 million settlement from Monsanto - the class representatives' counsel will typically launch a website to enable them to submit a claim, see relevant court documents, read a FAQ and get more details and contact information. If the class members are known and trackable - as in the case of the Capital One members - they are typically notified through the mail, by email and via public notices. "Ultimately It's up to the court to approve the motion for a class certification," Kramer said. These named plaintiffs, who are filing a suit on behalf of themselves and others, are called the "class representatives."ĭefendants can argue the criteria for a class-action suit haven't been met or that the claims would be better addressed on an individual basis.
"When the case is filed, it's often a proposed class action - a small group coming to an attorney saying 'We think this is a larger issue,'" Kramer said. Typically, individuals who believe they've been similarly injured would approach a firm like EKO with their claims. "Two years is very fast to resolve a class action," Kramer said. What are the steps of a class-action lawsuit?ĭepending on the nature of the case, going from filing suit to receiving remuneration can be a long process with many steps. Kramer has represented plaintiffs in numerous high-profile class-action suits - including the data breach case against online brokerage Robinhood that was settled for nearly $20 million and the $73 million settlement with the University of California resolving sexual abuse allegations against gynecologist James Heaps. If there's a pattern of racial discrimination, for example, one person is going to have a hard time proving that and getting relief."
"Also, it's useful for claims that are hard for an individual to bring on their own. "There's a huge efficiency purpose to having the rule," Kramer told CNET. They're given this right under Rule 23 in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures, which allows individuals to sue or be sued as a group.Ĭriteria for a class-action suit can include: What is a class-action lawsuit?Ī class-action lawsuit is a civil case filed on behalf of a group, collectively known as the "class," who believe they've suffered common injuries as a result of the defendant's actions.
The carrier agreed to the settlement - the second-largest data-breach payout in US history - to resolve a class-action suit alleging its negligence enabled hackers to access personal data.īut what is a class-action lawsuit? How do you find out if you're eligible to join one? How are settlements determined and distributed? Read on to find out.įor more on class-action settlements, find out if you could get a check from Capital One's $190 million payout, Sara Lee's $1 million deal or Facebook's $90 million data-tracking payout. T-Mobile agreed this year to pay customers $350 million following a cyberattack that exposed millions of people's addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information. Class-action lawsuits can make big headlines, especially when they target major corporations or have multimillion-dollar settlements.
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