December 2024 Class Action Settlements Involve BMW, Baer’s Furniture and Several High-Profile Universities

In December, consumers can file claims with 10 settlements resolving claims related to telemarketing, privacy and data breach violations.

$1.67M Change Healthcare, BCBS TCPA class action settlement

Change Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina agreed to pay $1.67 million to resolve claims they contacted consumers with prerecorded calls without consent.

The settlement includes individuals who received robocalls or prerecorded calls between Jan. 10, 2019, and July 17, 2024, from Change Healthcare calling on behalf of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina despite not being subscribers of BCBSNC or opting out from receiving these calls.

According to the class action lawsuit, Change Healthcare contacted consumers for BCBSNC without first obtaining consent. As a result, these prerecorded calls allegedly violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 2, 2024.

$2M Gaia VPPA class action settlement

Gaia Inc. agreed to a $2 million settlement to resolve claims it shared subscriber information with third parties, such as Meta, without getting user consent.

The settlement benefits Gaia subscribers who obtained videos through Gaia’s websites using a browser while also having a Facebook account between Sep. 12, 2020, and July 19, 2024.

Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit claim Gaia used a Meta tracking pixel to track user activity and link that information with their Facebook accounts. Gaia allegedly violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by collecting and sharing this information without user consent.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 2, 2024.

$825K Earth Rated compostable poop bags class action settlement

Earth Rated agreed to pay $825,000 to resolve claims its pet poop bags were not compostable as promised.

The Earth Rated settlement benefits consumers who purchased Earth Rated Certified Compostable Poop Bags between Oct. 28, 2015, and June 13, 2024.

According to the false advertising class action lawsuit, Earth Rated promised consumers its poop bags were compostable. In reality, the bags allegedly do not break down in compost.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 9, 2024.

$1M Jefferson Dental TCPA class action settlement

Jefferson Dental agreed to a $1 million settlement to resolve claims it violated TCPA with spam texts.

The settlement benefits consumers who received text messages from Jefferson Dental after making a stop request and whose number was on the National Do Not Call Registry between May 17, 2019, and May 17, 2023.

Plaintiffs claim Jefferson Dental violated the TCPA by not only sending unsolicited telemarketing texts but also sending texts to consumers who opted out or placed their numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. TCPA requires business to respect all opt-out requests and Do Not Call registrations and cease any further communications.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 9, 2024.

Baer’s Furniture data breach class action settlement

A settlement with Baer’s Furniture resolves claims the retailer failed to protect its customers and employees from a 2022 data breach.

The settlement benefits shoppers and employees whose information the August 2022 Baer’s Furniture data breach impacted.

The Baer’s data breach allegedly compromised names, addresses, Social Security numbers, medical information and other sensitive data of both consumers and employees. According to plaintiffs in the case, Baer’s Furniture failed to implement reasonable cybersecurity measures which could have protected them from the breach.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 16, 2024.

Green Valley Pecan Co. data breach class action settlement

Green Valley Pecan Co. agreed to a class action lawsuit settlement to resolve allegations it failed to prevent a 2022 data breach that compromised consumer data.

The settlement benefits individuals who received a data breach notification from Green Valley Pecan Co. informing them they may have been impacted by a May 2022 cyberattack.

According to the class action lawsuit, Green Valley failed to implement reasonable cybersecurity measures that could have protected consumer data. The data breach allegedly compromised sensitive personal information that puts consumers at risk for fraud and other damages.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 16, 2024.

$284M university financial aid class action settlement

Several high-profile universities, such as Duke, Penn and Yale, agreed to pay $284 million to resolve claims they conspired to share financial aid information and inflate costs.

The settlement benefits students enrolled in Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, MIT, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn, Rice, Vanderbilt, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Emory, CalTech or Johns Hopkins full-time undergraduate programs and who received some need-based financial aid but whose tuition, fees, room or board were not fully covered by the financial aid during various class periods.

Students in the class action lawsuit claim the universities shared information about financial aid offers among their students. The universities allegedly used this information to limit the financial aid they offered while also inflating the costs of room, board and other expenses.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 17, 2024.

$6M BMW emissions class action settlement

BMW agreed to pay $6 million to resolve class action lawsuit allegations that it installed emissions-defeat devices into some of its vehicles.

The settlement benefits drivers who owned or leased a 2009-2013 BMW X5 xDrive35d or 2009-2011 BMW 335d vehicle before Feb. 28, 2024.

According to the class action lawsuit, certain BMW vehicles contained emissions-defeat devices designed to dupe regulatory testing environments. These devices allegedly allowed vehicles to pass regulatory tests but operate under real life conditions with much higher emissions.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 18, 2024.

$29.5M Citibank TCPA class action settlement

Citibank agreed to a $29.5 million TCPA settlement to resolve claims it repeatedly called consumers with robocalls without first getting their consent.

The settlement benefits consumers who received one or more prerecorded calls or robocalls concerning a past-due credit card account between Aug. 15, 2014, and July 31, 2024, despite not being current or former Citibank customers.

The TCPA class action lawsuit claims Citibank bombarded noncustomers with prerecorded calls about past-due accounts that did not belong to them without consent or in violation of the TCPA.

The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 20, 2024.

$152.2M tuna antitrust class action settlement

Starkist and Lion Capital agreed to pay $152.2 million to resolve claims they conspired with other companies to raise and fix the price of canned tuna.

The settlement benefits residents of certain states who indirectly purchased (i.e., not from the manufacturer) cans or pouches of tuna smaller than 40 ounces between June 1, 2011, and July 1, 2015.

The massive tuna antitrust multidistrict litigation accused numerous tuna companies of conspiring together to coordinate pricing across the canned tuna industry. This scheme allegedly allowed the companies to raise and fix the price of their products.
The deadline to file a claim with the settlement is Dec. 31, 2024.