In an objection filed Monday, class member Anna St. John, an attorney for a class action fairness group, said the deal unfairly enriches the attorneys involved and offers users only a scant, 22-word temporary change to one of Facebook's help pages.
"Cynical." That's the descriptor lawyers at the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Class Action Fairness used to describe a proposed no-cash deal Facebook Inc. reached to settle a privacy class action earlier this year.
"Although these class members had their financial data stolen, they are releasing future-damages claims against Target in exchange for nothing," Holyoak said.
A Massachusetts federal judge credits the Center for Class Action Fairness with helping him "evolve" his thinking on a complicated and controversial class action case.
“It’s ironic, because any corporation caught telling investors something this misleading would surely face litigation from Labaton and Thornton,” Frank said after the hearing.
“The settlement was unfair because the attorneys' fees award was grossly disproportionate to the relief actually delivered to the class, Holyoak said. "Before the Center for Class Action Fairness objected, the plaintiffs’ attorneys were to receive $2.11 million, while the class members would have received $412,815 in coupons.”
“The judge is anticipating a real investigatory role for the special master. There’s $2 million in the pot – there’s no incentive to do a brief, perfunctory investigation.”
“This is very serious,” said Frank, a leading national critic of legal fees in class-action lawsuits. “The judge is anticipating a real investigatory role for the special master.”
“Over 99 percent of the Target data breach class gets nothing in this multi-million-dollar settlement, so we are glad that the Eighth Circuit recognizes that the district court cannot rubber-stamp settlements where class counsel cuts corners on procedural fairness so they can get paid quickly and generously,” said Melissa Holyoak, an attorney with the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness.
The National Law Review reports on the Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to a Google class action settlement. Class members claim Google used computer code to circumvent privacy settings, allowing advertisers and third parties to track their cookies and browsing activities. In settlement, Google offered to pay $5.5 million to a handful of internet technology and privacy rights institutions for internet privacy research. Class counsel agreed. With all advocates on…
