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Classmates.com Settles Class Action Suit for Sending Fake E-mails
Classmates.com will have to pay each member about $15.00 in a settlement agreement tentatively approved by a federal judge earlier this month. In a story at mediapost.com, the settlement caps damages at $2.5 million, which means that a member's payment depends on how many people made a claim in the class action lawsuit. If all 60 million classmates.com users made a claim, each member will receive only about 4 cents per person.
The class action settlement stems from a 2009 allegation that classmates.com sent deceptive e-mails to members telling them that old schoolmates were searching for them. The purpose of the e-mails was to get members to buy a "gold" membership, so they could find out who is looking for them. Approximately 3.6 million people purchased the "gold" membership after receiving the e-mails.
The announced settlement agreement is an improvement over one previously rejected by the federal judge. The prior proposal said classmates.com would pay $3.00 to each member and give members a $2.00 credit towards the purchase of a "gold" membership. The judge rejected the agreement because it would make a non-paying member a paying member.
Classmates.com has since changed its name to Memorylane.com.
Colson Hicks Eidson – Florida class action lawyers
Tagged Class Action Lawsuit