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After five years of “hard-fought litigation” and more than half-a-million pages of documentation, California drivers have struck a $41 million settlement deal with Orange County toll operators, who they claim violated privacy laws while collecting tolls and fines.
Plaintiff Dan Golka asked a judge to grant preliminary approval of the settlement with the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and tolling operator Cofiroute USA in a motion filed Monday in a California federal court.
“Class Counsel believe that the settlement amounts reached here are an excellent result for the Settlement Class, particularly given the risks attendant to further litigation,” the motion states. “The settlement provides meaningful monetary and programmatic relief.”
The Allegations
The deal springs from allegations first filed in court in 2016, accusing the authority and its contractors of abusing their access to driver information, and illegally sharing it with third-parties to enforce tolls.
The drivers alleged toll operators would send their information to the DMV so it could block their vehicle registration renewals until outstanding tolls were paid in full. They also said driver information was sent to the California Franchise Tax Board, where their tax refund or lottery winnings might be docked to pay for outstanding tolls.
The class action was brought under the California Streets and Highways Code, alleging the toll operators violated the law by improperly giving drivers’ personal identifying information to dozens of third parties. Breaking this law subjected the toll operators to statutory damages of $2,500 to $4,000 per violation, drivers argued.
The Settlement
The $41 million settlement is made up of $1 million cash for eligible Class members, as well as penalty forgiveness of $40 million.
The Class includes drivers whose personal information was provided by OCTA or Cofiroute to agencies including the TCA or other California toll agency, the California Department of Motor Vehicles or out-of-state equivalent or a car rental company or a third-party debt collector for the purpose of collecting a toll on the 91 Express Lanes.
The settlement also includes internal policy changes, including a reduction of the maximum penalty imposed by the OCTA for toll violations, and an agreement that OCTA and Cofiroute will not provide additional personal information to third-party debt collectors.
Years of Hard Fought Litigation
Golka said the settlement had been reached after “five years of hard-fought litigation,” multiple motions to dismiss and “review of over 500,000 pages of documents.”
The California toll class action was originally filed in February 2016. In April of the same year, the Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) motioned to dismiss the claims, citing multiple holes in the drivers’ argument.
In January 2017, Judge Guilford found that the drivers in the case did not exhaust all administrative remedies before filing their California toll class action, but gave them the chance to amend their claims and resubmit as a consolidated class action. The Class was finally certified in 2018.
What do you think of this settlement for Orange County motorists? Let us know in the comments!
The motorists are represented by Helen I. Zeldes and Ben Travis of Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP, Blake J. Lindemann of Lindemann Law Firm APC and Michael J. Flannery of Cuneo Gilbert & Laduca LLP.
The California Road Tolls Class Action Settlement is In re: Toll Roads Litigation, Case No. 8:16-cv-00262, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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28 thoughts onCalifornia Drivers Strike $41M Deal With Transport Authority Over Toll Collection Methods
please add me
Please add me
Add me please
add me. Constant traveler to Orange County and beyond
Add me plz. velmatrnr@yahoo.com
I’m having difficulty in Northern CA with BayAreaFasTrak.com The toll-collecting agency. I traded in an old car and bought a new-used car, sending FasTrak my Transfer of Title and Transfer of Liability. Its been over ONE year, now, and they still haven’t gotten it straightened out, charging my Toll Tag account for over 40 trips on the old car associated with the license plate on that car, even though there’s a new owner, who is obviously making the trips across the toll sites. The website computer system at FasTrak is automatically changing my account address to the dealership where I traded in the car. Fastrak states they will send any refund checks to that address. I’ve filed over 10 claims and spent onw weeks’ worth of 8AM-5PM hours (40) on the phone with this agency and I NEVER hear back from the “Escalation Team,” which seems to be the only branch that can handle the issue. Lower authority workers, there, say, “They cannot read the Transfer of Title,” even though it’s DMV who sent it to me that way. What to do? I cannot live this way, anymore! Give me a lawyer to talk to so I may start a class action.
I too had to pay Franchise Tax Board and DMV over 4000 to get my car registered. It was being held because of failed payment of tolls but the car was in my name but the car belonged to my ex husband at the time. However since the car was in my name it was my bill and if I didn’t pay my wages was going to be garnish by the Franchise Tax Board. Then I have a second vehicle that is in my name that also had past-due tolls that weren’t paid on the second vehicle I had in my name that he was also allowed to drive now this vehicle has over 2,500 dollars violation pass violation violation tolls Compact and now they’re threatening to garnish my wages once again crazy ridiculous someone needs to help us get this fixed is just not right.
Please add me. I believe I may also be a victim in this
They did the same thing in Maryland they would also keep your unused toll money no matter what it was at the end of time for a trip rate even if you over paid they kept it,
People who drive on the toll roads without paying are thieves. They don’t want to drive the regular roads because it takes more time to get to their destination, so they abuse the regulations. I used the toll roads all the time when I lived in California and did the right thing, I registered with them and they charged my credit card whenever I used one of the toll roads. They were always very efficient and nice. I do not agree with this class action and feel that the people who live their lives by cheating the system should be reported if they don’t pay up. The toll roads were built for the alleviation of traffic in California at a very high price and the voters put it through; there are tolls on the roads because these roads have upkeep costs of every sort imaginable, including the landscape, which is a tremendous cost. Who do you think is going to pay for that? The voters felt that all the people who use toll roads should be the ones who pay to drive them so that the people who don’t drive them won’t have to pay additional taxes to pay for toll road upkeep. All of you people who want to be signed up as part of this suit are actually admitting that you, too, were some of these people who did not pay to drive.
THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE WRONG, MR. JUDGEMENTAL! I actually have an account with the tolls and I have a transponder and they take money from my account regularly. However, I just found out when I got my registration, that while they have been charging me via my transponder, they are also putting a hold on my registration for violation of tolls. So sorry, you are WRONG! Not everyone on here is trying not to pay or are being crooks. And in fact, this is not the first time they have done this to me. So save your judgements and finger pointing to yourself!!
Great reply Yvonnecancel, well done. Nancy probably works for the agency in question or simply refuses to accept the facts because it hasn’t happened to her yet, but it will someday. The Toll Authority is a corrupted agency.
Please add me to this class action against CALIFORNIA ROAD TOLLS case 8:16-cv-00262. Thanks !
Please add me I have use the toll road since 2015