# Class Action Lawsuit - got paid!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 17, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396 "2022-06-17T19:55:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 9

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/161 "2026-09-09T15:39:02Z")

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Got $256 from Wells Fargo last week as settlement of a class action suit that dates back to 2020.

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**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/162 "2026-09-09T15:56:51Z")

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> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> but what if I were to opt out & sue on my own, is there any chance I’d get real money (thinking of a couple of hundred dollars) going that route?

Suing corporations is almost always a bad idea because they have way more ammunition (money) than the average consumer. They can afford an entire legal team, and they have no problem getting one continuance after another after another. If, by some miracle, you are awarded a decent payment, they can appeal and yet again get one continuance after another.

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**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/163 "2026-09-09T16:06:49Z")

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The scenario was if I opt out of the class action to go after a couple of hundred dollars vs do nothing & get a payout of about $12.56, which may not even get me lunch at McDonalds.

If we’re talking me asking them for a couple of hundred dollars, I can do that in small claims court & not need a lawyer where it’s going to cost them every time one of their lawyers looks at my case. They will _quickly_ spend more than they’d ever hope to avoid paying out; especially since they already agreed to pay people for whatever infraction in the class action case.

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**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/164 "2026-09-09T16:11:04Z")

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> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> If we’re talking me asking them for a couple of hundred dollars, I can do that in small claims court & not need a lawyer where it’s going to cost them every time one of their lawyers looks at my case.

Ah, I see. That’s a very interesting scenario! I just checked, and you can sue a corporation in small claims court just as if it was simply a person.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/165 "2026-09-09T16:54:01Z")

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But not if, as part of your contract w them, you have agreed to binding arbitration in lieu of the court system. Which substantially every consumer product or service now includes and has for ~20 years. As well, more recently, say last 5-8 years, there’s been a trend that the contract explicitly forbids you from joining a class action too.

In a just country in a just world these clauses would be struck by the courts and prohibited by the legislature as contrary to public policy.

We do not live in that world. Sometimes there’s some individual justice here & their where a low court chooses the right thing. But it’s rare.

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**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/166 "2026-09-09T16:56:37Z")

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Thanks for this. I guess it’s what it has always really been, government “by the rich and powerful and for the rich and powerful”.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/167 "2026-09-12T00:49:57Z")

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> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> Who gets those small payments if they won’t send them to the end parties? Does the company get to just keep them or do they have to bundle them up & give the combined amount to someone, a charity or such?

From what I can tell, they’ll go to the people whose payments are over $5.00.

> (2) JND will, pursuant to the terms of the Plan of Distribution, eliminate from the Initial Distribution any Authorized Claimant whose pro rata share calculates equal to or less than $5.00. These Claimants will not receive any distribution from the Net Settlement Fund and will be so notified by JND. This de minimis threshold was set by the Parties in the Settlement Agreement
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> (3) After eliminating Claimants who would have received equal to or less than $5.00, JND will recalculate the pro rata share of the Net Settlement Fund for Authorized Claimants who would have received $5.01 or more. A “Distribution Amount” will be calculated for each of these Authorized Claimants, which shall be the Authorized Claimant’s Recognized Claim divided by the total Recognized Claims of all Authorized Claimants who would have received $5.01 or more, multiplied by the total amount in the Net Settlement Fund.
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> (4) Authorized Claimants with a Distribution Amount less than $200.00 will be paid their full Distribution Amount in the Initial Distribution (“Claims Paid in Full”). These Authorized Claimants will receive no additional funds in subsequent distributions.
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> (5) After deducting the payments to the Claims Paid in Full, 90% of the remaining balance of the Net Settlement Fund will be distributed pro rata to Authorized Claimants whose Distribution Amount calculates to $200.00 or more. The remaining 10% of the Net Settlement Fund will be held in reserve (the “Reserve”) to address any late Premium or ASO Fee disputes, tax obligations and claims administration-related contingencies that may arise following the Initial Distribution. To the extent the Reserve is not depleted, the remainder will be included in the “Second Distribution”…

[https://www.bcbssettlement.com/admin/services/connectedapps.cms.extensions/1.0.0.0/asset?id=9b9ab9ec-3bc2-468f-bb0d-4139a723f0a9&languageId=1033&inline=true](https://www.bcbssettlement.com/admin/services/connectedapps.cms.extensions/1.0.0.0/asset?id=9b9ab9ec-3bc2-468f-bb0d-4139a723f0a9&languageId=1033&inline=true)

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/168 "2026-09-12T01:26:17Z")

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I got a tuna fish settlement check today, $6.37. Better than nothing, I guess.

I signed up for it a lot longer ago than 2024, that I do know.

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**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/169 "2026-09-16T16:09:35Z")

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I got an email about the CVS Digital Privacy Settlement today, which looks to be legit. I can get up to $10 if I can provide documentation that I accessed the CVS website within the time frame, or $5 if I don’t.

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/170 "2026-09-16T16:55:09Z")

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> [@Jasmine](#):
>
> you can sue a corporation in small claims court just as if it was simply a person.

Plus, if they bring a lawyer that’s on them.

Not a settlement but rather a dividend from State Farm insurance, $15.13 This was right after I’d paid them $320 for the cheaper of two vehicles to insure.

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**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/171 "2026-09-16T17:18:15Z")

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Wow, mine was for 120 and change.

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**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/172 "2026-09-16T19:21:19Z")

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> [@WildaBeast](#):
>
> I got an email about the CVS Digital Privacy Settlement today

Just one? So far I’ve gotten 3. I don’t know if that means $30, or if that I accessed the CVS website from 3 different computers.

It’s not worth $10 to me to take the time to restore computer backups to get to my web history from earlier this year to demonstrate that I did visit CVS in the right time frame. It might be worth the trouble to do that out of spite, though. I haven’t decided yet.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/173 "2026-09-16T20:01:11Z")

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If you bought anything from their website your order history would prove when you’d accessed their website. Your browser logs wouldn’t be necessary.

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**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/174 "2026-09-16T20:02:29Z")

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> [@echoreply](#):
>
> It’s not worth $10 to me to take the time to restore computer backups to get to my web history from earlier this year to demonstrate that I did visit CVS in the right time frame.

A cursory search of my inbox shows I have emails from them confirming vaccine appointments going back several years (because I never clean out my inbox), and I’m hoping that’s good enough.

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**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/175 "2026-09-16T22:24:36Z")

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> [@WildaBeast](#):
>
> I have emails from them confirming vaccine appointments going back several years (because I never clean out my inbox), and I’m hoping that’s good enough.

Oh yeah, I hope that is good enough. Old emails are easy to find. Most of mine are CVS/Caremark, but I do have some vaccination appointments from 2024 (and last week). They give no starting date, so maybe that will work.

I’ve submitted my claim, because $10 for 2-3 minutes of work is a good return. I’ve spent more time making this post than submitting an old email.

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**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/176 "2026-09-18T17:23:22Z")

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When I tried submitting the CVS Privacy claim form from my home computer I got a (presumably) false positive from my antivirus software, which blocked the popup where you’re supposed to provide your Zelle account information. Anyone else have an issue like that? I submitted it from work today and had no problem.

I also managed to find some browser history going back to last year from when I made a vaccine appointment, so I submitted a screenshot of that. I figured that was better proof.

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**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/177 "2026-09-22T16:43:58Z")

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Meanwhile, I got $37.42 from the Oracle Data Privacy Settlement today. Not bad.

The email with the information to claim my prepaid debit card went to my spam folder, so I almost missed it. Then when I noticed it the fact that it was in my spam folder made me not trust it. But after determining it was a real class action, I had filed a claim 2 years ago, I got an email from them a month ago saying my claim was approved and I’d get my payout in late September, and the payout would be that exact amount, I decided it was likely real. So I claimed my prepaid virtual Mastercard, and immediately used it to buy myself an Amazon gift card. Since Amazon accepted it as payment, that proves to me that it was indeed real.

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-lawsuit-got-paid/966396/178 "2026-09-22T17:08:02Z")

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I just got that one as well. In fact, just about an hour ago I cashed out the card at my work.

I’m waiting to see if there’s going to be any type of class action suit against LG for their privacy issues. I ended up blocking my LG TV from the internet and moving back to my Roku using the TV just as a monitor.  
And, in the process of looking to see if any of the class action sites mentioned this yet, I found a, now since dismissed, suit against LG for their shitty ice makers that get jammed, of which I have one, and been having problems with it jamming almost since I got it.

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