After 12 Years, Comcast Class-Action Suit Ends
Comcast will pay nearly $16.7 million in cash plus provide $33.3 million in free subscriber services under a settlement of a 12-year-old class-action lawsuit. Under the terms of the settlement approval entered Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern…
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District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the roughly 800,000 class members who no longer get Comcast services will get $15 cash, while current subscribers can choose either a $15 credit off their bills or credit toward various Comcast services such as six pay-per-view movies, four months of upgraded Internet services or a two-month Movie Channel subscription. According to court paperwork, any current subscribers who submit a claim form but choose no option will automatically get the Movie Channel option. The settlement class is any current Comcast subscriber or anyone who subscribed between Jan. 1, 2003, and Dec. 31, 2008, to Comcast video programming services other than basic cable in Philadelphia and surrounding Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. Class counsel will seek up to $15 million in fees and costs to be paid from the cash part of the settlement fund, the settlement order said. Comcast was sued in December 2003 over claims the cable company was using monopoly power to overcharge Philadelphia-area subscribers. More than 2 million current and former Comcast subscribers were part of an earlier plaintiff class seeking $875 million, but the pool narrowed after the Supreme Court overturned the larger class certification in March 2013 (see 1303280052). In a statement Friday, Comcast said it was "pleased the Court has approved the settlement reached at the end of last year that brings this long-running matter to closure."