New Settlement Promises Availability of Benefits to Millions of Additional Class MembersCase: Parker et al. v. Time Warner Entertainment Co., et al., 1:98-cv-04265-ILG-JMA (EDNY)
United States District Court Judge Leo Glasser, Eastern District of New York, recently entered orders (Doc 201 / Doc 202) preliminarily approving a revised settlement agreement in a lawsuit involving millions of Time Warner Cable subscribers. The lawsuit claimed that Time Warner Cable is required to tell subscribers how it collects and uses their personal information, and that Time Warner Cable failed to do so in compliance with applicable law.
Daniel Anderson, attorney for objectors to the previous settlement, attended the preliminary approval hearing in New York on May 7th and advised the Court that the new settlement was vastly superior to the previous settlement and should be preliminarily approved. Accordingly, Mr. Anderson said that he was pleased with the results.
Mr. Anderson filed an objection to the previous settlement on behalf of two class members because the settlement: (1) failed to provide proper notice to any class member that was not a current Time Warner Cable Subscriber; and, (2) discriminated amongst class members by providing benefits only to current subscribers or those subscribers living in an area served by Time Warner Cable. The Court denied the parties' request to grant final approval to the previous settlement on May 19, 2006.
Mr. Anderson hailed the action by the District Court as a huge victory for consumers. Under the new settlement, over 5 million additional class members will now receive mailed notice of the settlement, and over 7 million class members will now have the opportunity to receive cash benefits. "Judge Glasser absolutely did the right thing in denying the motion to approve the previous settlement, and in preliminarily approving the revised settlement," Anderson said. "The entire process thus far has served as a shining example of what the drafters of Rule 23 (of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) envisioned when they provided class members, such as my clients, the opportunity to object to a proposed settlement," Anderson added.
Anderson acknowledged that many class members receiving the notice without any knowledge of the previous settlement will see the settlement as nothing more than an opportunity for "lawyers to line their pockets." Anderson said, however, "the real story is not that class members get $5 and the lawyers get $5 million - the real story is that the system worked." "No matter what you think of the deal," Anderson added, "it is much much better than it would have been if my clients had not objected and if the Court had not done its job."
The parties will now begin the process of notifying class members of their rights under the proposed settlement, and how to obtain benefits. The parties have established a web site at http://www.twcsettlement.com/ that will provide additional information to class members, including the class notice and claim form. A final approval hearing is currently scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on December 9, 2008.
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