Background

The United States District Court of Massachusetts approved a settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by customers of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx ‘n More, Marshalls MegaStore, The Maxx, HomeGoods, A.J. Wright, Winners and HomeSense. The lawsuit claimed that the retailers did not properly safeguard the computer systems that contained customers’ private data. As a result, unauthorized people gained access to customers’ personal and financial information.

It was anticipated that millions of people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada were eligible to be included in the class action settlement. The terms of the agreement included vouchers, cash benefits, credit monitoring, identity theft insurance and reimbursements for out of pocket expenses as compensation for the computer system intrusion.

The notice program was designed to include notices in English, French and Spanish in order to accommodate the preferred language of all T.J. shoppers. Notice was distributed through individual mailings to known class members, paid placements in leading consumer publications and an informational press release in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as a case website and toll-free number.

Results

Working closely with all parties, our legal notice experts designed and implemented a notice program that successfully reached more than 80 percent of consumers that were possibly impacted.

At the conclusion of the notice program, prior to the final approval hearing, our notice experts provided the court with a detailed affidavit illustrating the implementation of all notice activities and providing an expert opinion on the overall adequacy of the program and notices. A separate affidavit was also filed in Canada requesting that the Canadian Courts bind Canadian class members based on the notification effort provided. The request was granted.

To learn more about how KCC can help ensure your success, email or call us at 866.381.9100.