Filed: Dec. 28, 2017
Latest Update: Dec. 28, 2017
Summary: MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER MILTON I. SHADUR , Senior District Judge . On October 26th, 2017 this Court issued its Preliminary Approval Order ("Preliminary Approval") granting an Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement and Approval of Notice Plan, which had in turn been identical in substance to the Preliminary Approval itself. On that same October 26 date this Court granted preliminary approval of a settlement, calling for payment of $295 million in the Settlement Ag
Summary: MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER MILTON I. SHADUR , Senior District Judge . On October 26th, 2017 this Court issued its Preliminary Approval Order ("Preliminary Approval") granting an Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement and Approval of Notice Plan, which had in turn been identical in substance to the Preliminary Approval itself. On that same October 26 date this Court granted preliminary approval of a settlement, calling for payment of $295 million in the Settlement Agr..
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MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
MILTON I. SHADUR, Senior District Judge.
On October 26th, 2017 this Court issued its Preliminary Approval Order ("Preliminary Approval") granting an Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement and Approval of Notice Plan, which had in turn been identical in substance to the Preliminary Approval itself. On that same October 26 date this Court granted preliminary approval of a settlement, calling for payment of $295 million in the Settlement Agreement that accompanied the other documents referred to there.
This memorandum opinion and order carries those documents forward in accordance with those same principles and their originally-set timetable. In important part those principles and timetable allow each Class Member to reject class action membership on or before January 22, 2018, in which event that Class Member will be an "Opt-Out" participant. To qualify for such "Opt-Out status," any Class Member can exercise that judgment independently.
If the effect of any Class Member's objection to the present Preliminary Approval is to prevent its qualification as a final Approval Order, the terms of the Preliminary Approval as to the February 23, 2018 Fairness Hearing specified in the Preliminary Approval shall apply. But for any payment of Class Member benefits to any Class Member to render that party an "Opt-Out," that Class Member (a) must couple its putative Opt-Out status with a representation that it has received no part of any financial benefit in conjunction with any individual claim in this Steri-Safe Contract Litigation, or (b) if it cannot make such a representation, it must return such financial benefit to the Class Members' pool of funds to be used for distribution to Class Members other than Opt-Outs in accordance with the terms of the Fairness Hearing.
One additional — and critical — matter must be added to this memorandum opinion and order. Under the terms of Preliminary Approval ¶ 38 the Opt-Out and objection deadlines are both set for January 22, 2018, with a very brief period — until February 12 — thus designated as this Court's deadline for the Motion For Final Approval and Response to Objections. For that schedule to have any realistic prospect for compliance, it is essential that a counterpart of every Opt-Out claim and of every court-filed objection to the final Approval Plan must be emailed to bredflame@ameritech.net contemporaneously with its in-court filing.
