Sat Narayan d/b/a Express Hauling, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank, et al.

Sat Narayan, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank, et al. Settlement

On December 9, 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, now entitled Sat Narayan d/b/a Express Hauling, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank, et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-11223 (the “Lawsuit”).The Lawsuit alleged that independent sales organizations named International Payment Services, LLC (“IPS”) and Ironwood Financial, LLC (“Ironwood”), recorded certain calls to California businesses without disclosing the fact that the call was being recorded in violation of Sections 632 and 632.7 of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). The Lawsuit further alleged that the purpose of these calls was to set in-person sales appointments with the businesses to sell credit card processing equipment and services on behalf of Fifth Third Bank, N.A. (“Fifth Third”), Vantiv, Inc. (“Vantiv”), and National Processing Company (“NPC”) (collectively, “the Fifth Third/Vantiv Defendants”), all of whom are named as defendants in the Lawsuit. The Fifth Third/Vantiv Defendants did not themselves make the calls and deny any wrongdoing or liability in connection with the Lawsuit.

BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

Under the proposed settlement, the Fifth Third/Vantiv Defendants will make a payment of $50,000,000 to create a fund on behalf of the Settlement Class Members (the “Settlement Fund”). Settlement Class Members who do not exclude themselves from the Lawsuit are eligible for a cash payment from the Settlement Fund for each call that is covered under the class definition set forth below (an “Eligible Call” as defined in the Settlement Agreement). Settlement Class Members who received multiple Eligible Calls are entitled to a cash payment for each Eligible Call. The cash payment could be as high as $5,000 per call depending on how many claims are submitted. It is not possible at this time, however, to know the exact amount of each payment. It is estimated, however, that individual settlement payments could be in the hundreds of dollars each.

THE CLASS

On March 15, 2022, the Court certified the Lawsuit as a class action for settlement purposes and defined the class as follows:

All call recipients that received a telephone call to a California telephone number from an employee, agent, or othe representative of, or from a call center operated by, International Payment Services, LLC or Ironwood Financial, LLC, or one of their affiliates, between May 8, 2014 and July 29, 2016, who appeared on a lead list maintained by International Payment Services, LLC or Ironwood Financial, LLC, while the call recipient was physically present in California.

Any call recipient meeting the definition of this class shall be referred to herein as a “Settlement Class Member” and, collectively, as the “Settlement Class” or “Settlement Class Members.”

YOUR OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT

SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM

In order to receive the cash payment, you must complete and sign a Claim Form for your business and mail it to the Settlement Administrator, or you can submit your claim online through this settlement website, by the DUE DATE of May 30, 2022. A pre-paid, self-addressed envelope is provided with the Notice that you can use to mail in your Claim Form.

Regardless of whether you mail the Claim Form or submit a claim online, you must do so by the DUE DATE of May 30, 2022 to be eligible to receive a payment. Settlement payments will be issued only if the proposed settlement is granted final approval by the Court.

EXCLUDE FROM THE LAWSUIT

Any Settlement Class Member has the right to be excluded from the Lawsuit by written request. If you wish to be excluded from the case, you must mail a written request to the Settlement Administrator. A Settlement Class Member’s exclusion request must be postmarked no later than the DUE DATE of May 23, 2022 and sent to the following address: Sat Narayan, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank, et al. Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 43541, Providence, RI 02940-3541.

You can find more information about how to request an exlcusion on this website.

OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT

If you do not exclude yourself from the Lawsuit, you can comment in opposition to the settlement, including the amount requested for attorneys’ fees and costs or the requested incentive awards, which is known as an objection, and your business has the right to appear before the Court to express its opposition. Your written objection must be submitted in writing and filed with the Clerk of Court by the DUE DATE of May 23, 2022.

You can find more information about how to object on this website.

The Notice provides only a summary of the Lawsuit. You can view the Settlement Agreement and obtain more information about the settlement on this website. In order to see the complete case file, including the Settlement Agreement and all other pleadings and papers filed in the Lawsuit, you may also examine the court file at the office of the Clerk of the Court in the Everett McKinley Dirksen Building, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60604.