A Fair Settlement in the Carfax Case?
Public Citizen today filed objections to a proposed nationwide settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Carfax, a company that sells history reports for used cars. The lawsuit, filed in Ohio, alleges that consumers are being deceived by Carfax’s claim that its vehicle history reports are based on searches of its nationwide database, when in fact the database does not include police accident data from 22 states and the District of Columbia. The objections to the settlement were filed on behalf of 17 individual class members and the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety.
Although the complaint asked the court to award damages to Carfax customers and to require Carfax to disclose the specific limitations of its database, the proposed settlement would do neither. Instead, it would primarily benefit Carfax, which would obtain a release from all similar claims by all former customers nationwide, and the plaintiff’s lawyers, who would receive $556,000 in fees.
Full Story at: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2402
(Thanks to Audrey Muehleisen for sending in the link)