A California federal court signed off on a $1 million settlement agreement, putting an end to a class action filed against Adobe over calls that allegedly violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and yielding $2,000 payments for class members.
Viann Bonoan filed her class action complaint in February 2019, claiming that Adobe made calls to cellular telephone numbers of consumers who were not Adobe customers, in violation of the TCPA.
After the California federal court granted Adobe’s motion to dismiss in part, the parties engaged in discovery and then mediation, where they reached a deal.
Adobe promised to establish a $1 million settlement fund. After payment of notice and administration costs not to exceed $125,000, attorneys’ fees of $333,333.33, costs and expenses of $14,290.10, and a $5,000 incentive award for Bonoan, the remainder of the fund will be paid in equal shares to class members.
The approximately 12,000 class members are defined as persons in the United States who are not current or former Adobe customers and to whom Adobe placed a call by using the Genesys OB dialer to a number assigned to a cellular telephone service between February 27, 2015, and March 9, 2020.
No class members objected to the deal, and only one class member opted out. In her motion in support of final approval, Bonoan noted that just 254 class members filed claims. Although the parties had estimated a range of $400–$800 for class member payment, the low turnout of claims bumped the amount up to roughly $2,000, “near the very top of [TCPA] class action settlements,” Bonoan told the court.
U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg granted final approval to the settlement agreement on March 10.
To read the settlement agreement in Bonoan v. Adobe, Inc., click here.
To read the court’s order granting final approval, click here.
Why it matters: While the total payout by Adobe to settle the suit didn’t break any records—see the $76 million deal three cruise marketing companies agreed to pay in 2016—the per-class member checks hit the high end of the range at $2,000 after only a fraction of potential class members (just over 2 percent) filed claims.