What is a Class Action Lawsuit?

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If you qualify to join a class action lawsuit, but have never participated in one before, you don’t need to worry. In most cases, the people who are qualifying Class Members are automatically added to the class action lawsuit unless they take a proactive step to exclude themselves.

You may still need to take a few steps to make a claim and get paid.

What Is a Class Action Lawsuit?

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute defines a class action as a “procedural device that permits one or more plaintiffs to file and prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group, or ‘class.’”

A class action lawsuit allows the court to hear one lawsuit regarding tens, hundreds, or even thousands of plaintiffs who allege a defendant has almost identically wronged them all. This saves the court from hearing perhaps thousands of lawsuits against one plaintiff for the same allegations over and over again.

What Types of Issues Are Apt to be Addressed in a Class Action Lawsuit?

Any action by a company that harms a large number of people in a similar way may be suitable for class action treatment. Defective consumer products, illegal telephone or text marketing practices, automobile defects, data breaches, and other issues that affect large numbers of consumers can be addressed through class action lawsuits.

What Is a Class Member?

A Class Member is a person who has a claim against the defendants that is similar to the plaintiffs’ claims, but who does not actively join the lawsuit as a plaintiff. Each class action lawsuit has a class definition that lays out the criteria for a class member — for example, “all California residents who purchased Stummies from Jan. 1, 2016 through the date of class certification.”

How Do I Know if I’m Included as a Class Member in a Class Action Lawsuit?

If you’re a Class Member in a class action lawsuit, you should receive a mailed (or sometimes emailed) notice letting you know that you have been identified as one of the individuals included in the lawsuit. This notice usually comes from a settlement administrator, a business that contracts with the parties’ lawyers to handle the administrative tasks required to get Class Members paid.

In a class action lawsuit regarding a wage and hour claim, you may have to opt in to be included. These actions are technically known as “collective actions,” not class actions.

What If I Believe I Have Been Overlooked as a Possible Class Member in a Class Action Lawsuit?

If you believe you’re a Class Member, you can still submit a claim. If your claim is denied, you may wish to follow up with the settlement administrator to see if there is any further information you can provide to have your claim honored.

Settlement notices don’t always make it to every qualified Class Member. That’s why Top Class Actions publishes information on every settlement we can find, making it easy for you to watch for settlements you qualify for. You can find settlements that are currently accepting claims on our Open Settlements page, and you can keep an eye out for future settlements on our Pending Settlements page.

When Do I Need to Be Proactive to Obtain Part of a Class Action Settlement?

When the class action case settles, you may need to submit a claim within a certain amount of time. Most class action settlements have their own website set up. Generally, settlement websites allow claimants to submit a claim online, but some offer the option of submitting a claim through the mail.

Both the settlement website and the class notice should provide claimants with directions on how to submit a claim.

Will I Need to Provide a Proof of Purchase if My Claim Involves a Consumer Product?

It’s common for class action settlements to provide a smaller benefit for claimants who don’t submit documentation and a larger benefit for others who do submit documentation.

For example, if a company settles a class action lawsuit regarding false advertising of an energy drink, the company might reimburse you for a certain number of cans or bottles without proof of purchase, but anything beyond that designated number might require proof of purchase. The settlement terms will clarify whether or not proof of purchase or any other identifier is needed to make a claim.

What Does It Mean to Opt Out of a Class Action Lawsuit?

Opting out is what Class Members can do if they want to bring their own individual lawsuit against that same defendant for the same issue. If you’re a Class Member in a class action lawsuit and decide to opt out, it means you will not take part in the settlement. That means you will not be able to collect any settlement money from that class action litigation.

What Does It Mean When a Class Action Lawsuit is Certified?

Certification is what turns an ordinary lawsuit into a class action. All class actions start as an ordinary lawsuit filed by one or a few plaintiffs. If the plaintiffs propose to make the lawsuit a class action and can prove their allegations meet certain criteria, the court will certify the Class. At that point, it’s a class action.

To be certified under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the number of claimants must be too large to have them all together at one time; the class have questions of law or fact in common; the claims or the defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the entire class; and, the representative parties will protect the interests of the class in a fair and adequate manner.

Why is class certification a big deal? Once the Class is certified, there’s vastly more money at stake. Defendants are much more likely to settle, and to settle for more money when they’re facing a Class instead of just a few individuals.

If the Class does not get certified, the plaintiffs may continue to litigate on their own behalf.

How Are Potential Class Members Identified?

In order for Class Members to join a class action lawsuit, they must be identified as someone who has suffered similar damage. Sometimes, the damage is limited to a small amount of financial impact, which the potential Class Member might not even realize occurred. Once the consumer receives the Notice of Class Action, the consumer has been identified as a Class Member who is included in the lawsuit. Any resolution to the case will be binding to that Class Member unless the Class Member opts out.

Class Members are anyone who meets the class definition. These will be people who suffered harm similar to the plaintiffs — consumers who bought the same product, employees who were affected by the employer’s discriminatory practices, etc.

The tricky part is how to find them and tell them they’re a Class Member. Settlement administrators are usually tasked with that job. Typically, they’ll set up a settlement website and send out notices by U.S. Mail to every known person who may be a Class Member.

What Type of Information Is Included on the Notice of Class Action?

In most cases, the Notice of Class Action will need to follow the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, which requires clear and concise information. Specific allegations against a named defendant, instructions on how to make a claim, the Class Member’s right to opt out of the class action lawsuit, and the fact that Class Members will be required to abide by the final settlement or judgment should all be included in the notice.

Do I Need to Pay Any Money to Join a Class Action Lawsuit?

You can become a Class Member of a class action lawsuit without paying any fees. The lawyers who handle a class action lawsuit usually receive a fee if the lawsuit is successful, and then their fees are almost always taken from the settlement money or court award.

Is a Class Action Lawsuit the Same Thing as a Mass Tort Lawsuit?

Class actions and mass torts are different legal procedures. In a mass tort, each plaintiff is individually represented regarding the injuries the plaintiff received in order to be eligible for compensation. Sometimes several plaintiffs, maybe even dozens, join in a single lawsuit. Faulty medical devices or dangerous medications that have caused patients’ undue harm are examples of topics seen in mass tort lawsuits.

In cases where many more people are claiming harm but the harm is different for each claimant, all their lawsuits may be joined in a single process. This process is sometimes called complex litigation or, in the federal court system, multidistrict litigation. Each plaintiff still has their own lawsuit, but all the lawsuits are handled together by the same court.