After Long Delay, Judge Approves $32.5M Settlement in Uber 'Safe Rides' Class Action
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, however, denied plaintiffs attorneys' requests for 25% of the settlement, or $8.125 million, finding that the settlement should be treated as a coupon settlement under Class Action Fairness Act.
August 14, 2019 at 03:04 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The Recorder
A federal judge in San Francisco has given final sign-off to a $32.5 million deal Uber Technologies reached with a class of passengers to settle claims related to its “safe rides” fees.
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California gave preliminary approval to the settlement more than two years ago, but pumped the brakes on the deal last year while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit considered In re Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigation—a case concerning the viability of multistate class action settlements—en banc.
On Tuesday, with Hyundai resolved in a way that’s friendly to class action settlements, Tigar gave final approval to the Uber deal, which provides class members with $0.25 for the first safe rides fee they were charged and $0.05 for each subsequent charge—an average of about $1.07 per class member. As part of the deal, Uber has agreed to cease charging “Safe Rides Fees” and to refrain from using statements like “safest ride on the road” and “industry-leading” when describing company safety measures in advertising. Under the terms approved by Tigar, all unclaimed funds will go to the National Consumer Law Center.
In Tuesday’s order, however, Tigar declined to approved plaintiffs attorneys’ request for 25% of the settlement amount, or $8.125 million, finding that the settlement should be treated as a coupon settlement under the Class Action Fairness Act. Tigar wrote that Ninth Circuit law holds that attorney fees in such cases must be based on redemption rates for coupon portions of the settlement and based on the attorneys’ lodestar time for any non-coupon portion.
“Having concluded that this settlement should be governed by the principles applicable to coupon settlements under CAFA, the court orders plaintiffs to file an amended motion for attorney’s fees consistent with the above principles,” Tigar wrote.
A representative from Uber declined to comment Wednesday.
Tina Wolfson of Ahdoot & Wolfson and Mike Arias of Arias Sanguinetti Stahle & Torrijos, who represent the plaintiffs, didn’t immediately respond to messages.
The case was originally filed in 2014 claiming Uber misled consumers about conducting “industry-leading” background checks and failed to use the Safe Rides Fee to pay to provide more secure rides. Uber in 2016 settled related lawsuits brought by district attorney’s offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles over how it touted its safety practices.
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