MAC Agrees to $365K ZIP Code Privacy Class Action Settlement

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MAC Cosmetics Inc. has agreed to settle a proposed ZIP code privacy class action lawsuit by paying $365,000 to customers who had their ZIP code requested and recorded during a sales transaction.

Lead plaintiff Lauren Miller has asked that the court approve the proposed settlement which would pay out potential Class Members in the form of MAC gift cards. The plaintiff says the ZIP code privacy settlement produces “a fair and reasonable result” to the MAC class action lawsuit.

Miller originally filed the MAC privacy class action lawsuit in 2013 which accused the cosmetic company of illegally obtaining ZIP codes from customers under the pretense that it completed their credit card transactions. The ZIP code privacy lawsuit claimed that in reality MAC Cosmetics used the customer’s ZIP code and name in order to identify that customer’s address using commercially available databases. By obtaining this information, MAC could send marketing material to the customer’s home address, according to the class action lawsuit.

The MAC ZIP code privacy class action lawsuit alleged that collecting the personal identification information from customers using credit cards violates Massachusetts Gen. Laws

While MAC “disputes the substance of these allegations and the legal theory upon which plaintiff’s (Miller’s) causes of action rely,” they have agreed to the proposed settlement after substantial negotiations with Miller and her counsel.

According to the Mac settlement, the company will provide a “gift card fund” of $365,000 to provide all Class Members who file valid and timely claim forms a portion of the settlement funds. After fees are deducted $300,000 should remain in the fund, so if 10,000 valid claims are submitted, Class Members could receive a $30 MAC gift card. However, according to information provided by MAC, the potential Class Members filing could be closer to 86,000.

Those who receive a MAC settlement gift card will have six months to redeem it for merchandise at any free-standing MAC retail store, with no minimum or maximum purchase amount.

According to the MAC ZIP code privacy lawsuit settlement, the cosmetic company maintains a database of mailing address of most if not all of potential Class Members which will allow direct notice of the settlement to be mailed directly to them. However, a more detailed notice will be posted on TopClassActions.com when it’s time to submit a claim form.

Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest update on filing a MAC zip code privacy settlement claim. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

If approved, the MAC Settlement would be open to all Class Members who used a payment card for purchases at a free-standing MAC retail store in Massachusetts and whose ZIP code was requested and recorded by the defendant between Nov. 5, 2009 and the date of entry of the preliminary approval order.

Lauren Miller is represented by David Pastor of Pastor Law Office LLP, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson of Finkelstein Blankinship Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP and Preston W. Leonard of Leonard Law Office LLP.

The MAC Zip Code Privacy Class Action Settlement is Lauren Miller v. MAC Cosmetics Inc., Case No. 1:13-CV-13150, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

UPDATE: Instructions on how to file a claim for the MAC ZIP code privacy class action lawsuit are now available! Click here or visit www.MassCosmeticsZipCodeSettlement.com for details.

UPDATE 2: On May 18, 2016, Top Class Actions readers who submitted a valid claim for the MAC class action settlement began receiving store gift cards worth as much as $34.10.