FedEx Overbilling Class Action Settlement Gets Final Nod

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A class action lawsuit alleging that Federal Express Corp. overbilled for deliveries to business and government offices has been resolved after a federal judge granted final approval to a $21.5 million class action settlement reached this summer. Class Members have until Dec. 9 to submit a claim to receive a refund of the improper fees they paid.

While FedEx admits no wrongdoing, plaintiffs alleged that the company overcharged customers more than $5 million in bogus fees by charging these customers a higher-priced residential delivery rate. In addition, the company allegedly failed to advise consumers that there are certain ZIP codes that would necessitate an additional fee due to the addresses’ remote location. Plaintiffs were seeking damages on breaches of contract as well as violations of the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in the FedEx shipping fee class action lawsuit.

Class Members include all FedEx customers who were wrongfully charged residential delivery fees between Aug. 28, 2008 and July 13, 20111 as well as any additional surcharges arising from delivering to difficult locations. Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr. noted in the Nov. 22 order that $500,000 of the class action settlement amount would be available to Class Members who sought refunds from FedEx regarding the charges prior to the beginning of legal proceedings — roughly 91 percent of the total.

An additional $16 million will be made available to those who sent FedEx packages and were charged residential delivery fees when the items were sent to business or government locations as well as for other surcharges. While this represents only 20 percent of the total amount of fees, Judge Fowlkes said that the lack of effort made to obtain refunds and the relative difficulty of succeeding in additional litigation made the amount a fair one as part of the FedEx overbilling class action settlement.

Claims must be submitted no later than Dec. 9, 2013 to the Settlement Administrator. The minimum award is $5 with increases possible depending on the number of approved shipments where a refund is requested. Detailed claim filing instructions can be found here.

Plaintiffs are represented by Jeffrey O. Bramlett, Steven J. Rosenwasser, Joshua F. Thorpe, Robert L. Ashe III, Naveen Ramachandrappa and Manoj S. Varghese of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP; Frank L. Watson and William F. Burns of Watson Burns PLLC; and Salu Kunnatha of Kunnatha Law Firm PC.

The FedEx Fee Class Action Lawsuit Settlement is Manjunath A. Gokare PC, et al. v. Federal Express Corporation, et al., Case No. 11-cv-02131, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee.