Samsung Plasma TV Class Action Settlement Rejected by Judge

A California federal judge has rejected a proposed Samsung settlement after determining that it doesn’t sufficiently compensate customers who purchased allegedly defective plasma TVs. 

U.S. District Judge William Alsup found that the settlement deal provides no substantial benefits to television owners, and instead would mostly compensate the lawyers and named plaintiffs.

Judge Alsup explained that under the proposed Samsung television class action settlement deal, the named plaintiffs would each receive $6,000 and the Class attorneys would get $487,000.

Additionally, Judge Alsup said that the proposed Samsung class action settlement radically narrowed the scope of the Class, excluding those customers who owned the televisions from 2009 to 2013, and those who no longer own the television as of July 2019.

The judge explained that the Class Members were further limited to three models of televisions, and those who had undergone diagnostic testing by an authorized repair center.

In his order, the judge also noted that the proposed settlement agreement “explicitly prohibited any form of notice to the class.” According to the judge, this is an intentional move to not provide benefits to Class Members.

As a result, the judge rejected the proposed settlement deal because it showed “signs of self-interest” that are fairly stark. He particularly pointed to problems that he said may stem from the “Unique due process concerns for absent class members,” because Class Members would not be notified of the settlement deal.

The judge elaborated, saying that “even though damages would theoretically survive this settlement, absent class members would not be put on notice that they now need to bring they own claims for damages because plaintiffs’ counsel have abandoned class damages claim.”

The Samsung plasma class action settlement deal was proposed after settlement negotiations began in May 2019. The deal was fully struck in August 2019, says the judge, and a move for Class certification and preliminary approval was made in September 2019 by the customers. Reportedly, this was unopposed by Samsung.

The judge notes that this plasma TV defect class action settlement deal was reached after Samsung attempted to end the plasma defect class action lawsuit in summary judgement.

The Samsung plasma TV defect class action lawsuit was initially filed by Alexis Bronson in April 2018 over claims that some Samsung plasma TVs are defective and Samsung did not have repair parts available to fix the problem. Another plaintiff, Crystal Hardin, later joined the Samsung class action lawsuit.

What do you think of the proposed Samsung plasma TV settlement? Are you glad the judge rejected it?

Bronson and Hardin are represented by Paul S. Rothstein and Kyla V. Alexander of Paul S. Rothstein, Attorney At Law, and Alan J. Sherwood of the Law Offices of Alan J. Sherwood.

The Samsung Plasma TV Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Alexis Bronson, et al. v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-02300, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: January 2020, the Samsung plasma tv class action settlement website is now active. Click here to learn more. 

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