What Does This Class Action Letter Mean?

Why you got it, figuring out what it means, and what to do with it

By Nancy Henderson | Reviewed by Canaan Suitt, J.D. | Last updated on November 16, 2023 Featuring practical insights from contributing attorneys Gretchen Garrison, Elizabeth C. Carver and John E. Campbell

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In 2016, customers who’d purchased certain e-books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple may have been surprised by emails notifying them of credits in their accounts, the result of a class action lawsuit in which the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ordered Apple to pay $450 million for price fixing.

That type of out-of-nowhere jackpot is rare in class actions, according to local class action attorneys.  Most often, a postcard or letter arrives in the mail from a law firm you know nothing about regarding a product you’ve long forgotten:

  • Why did you get it?
  • What does it mean?
  • And what do you do with it? 

1. Why You Received a Notice: You’re Already a Member of the Class

“Once you get one of those postcards, you may already be in the class,” says Gretchen Garrison, an attorney at Gray, Ritter & Graham in St. Louis, Missouri, who has been involved in multimillion-dollar class actions against Bayer, AT&T, and other large corporations. “So there’s not a question of joining. It would only be a question of opting out or objecting.”

The class action suit actually began much earlier. Typically a handful of plaintiffs’ lawyers file suit against a company, usually because of injury or defective product, and then ask the court to include a large number of other claimants who have similar claims. If the class is certified, it falls on the company to provide notice to potential class members. 

“The defendant is not always obliged to provide names, and there are a variety of ways to provide notice to potential class members,” Garrison says. “Due process requires the best practical notice, so it may be a publication, website, or email. I’ve even seen them in magazines.” 

Once you get one of those postcards, you may already be in the class. So there’s not a question of joining. It would only be a question of opting out or objecting.

Gretchen Garrison

2. How Do You Figure Out What the Class Action Notice Means?

Garrison and other St. Louis class action lawyers urge consumers not to throw the notice away. “The only way you’re going to know what you’re entitled to, and whether you want it, is to read that notice,” says John E. Campbell of Campbell Law in St. Louis. “That notice is your gateway to understanding what’s happening.”

They recommend going to the listed website and reviewing the legal documents. Sometimes you need to fill out a form to be part of the class or submit proof of membership in the class, but most often, you don’t have to do anything at all.

If you’re a consumer who actually had [the problem in the class action] and you suffered some personal or physical injury, by all means, you would not want to join that class action because you want to preserve all your rights for your own individual action.

Elizabeth C. Carver

3. What Do You Do With a Class Action Notice?

Of course, you can opt-out of a class action. Why would you? Say you own a car that could potentially accelerate without warning. “If you’re a consumer who actually had that problem and you suffered some personal or physical injury, by all means, you would not want to join that class action because you want to preserve all your rights for your own individual action,” says Elizabeth Carver, a partner at Bryan Cave.

Sometimes, when there are too many potential class members or they’re hard to identify, a notice is posted in a major magazine, such as Parade. And occasionally, like with the Apple settlement, a suit brought by a state’s attorney general (rather than individual lawyers) prompts an “instant” refund. 

In the best case scenarios, class actions return money to people and stop bad behavior.

John E. Campbell

Typical Class Action Settlement Funds

Generally, don’t expect to retire on any class action money. The rewards are usually small—a coupon or a product replacement—although sometimes they pay off in a big way.

Campbell, for instance, once sued a company on behalf of roughly 100 retirees on the grounds of mismanaged pension funds. “We sent checks out for $70,000 and $80,000 to [each] person and they never went to court. They never paid a lawyer,” says Campbell, though he did recover fees. “That’s because we were able to resolve the legal issue one time instead of hundreds of times.” 

More important, class actions also help keep companies honest. “In the best case scenarios,” Campbell says, “class actions return money to people and stop bad behavior.”

Find Experienced Class Counsel

If you have questions about a class action case or the steps to bringing a legal action, visit the Super Lawyers directory to find an experienced class action lawyer in your area. For more information on this area of law, see our overview of class action and mass torts, or reach out to a law firm for legal advice.

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