Judge Alsup orders Bartz v. Anthropic class website IMMEDIATELY disabled until fixes made to respect class members' right to opt out
Bartz v. Anthropic class settlement process plagued by snafus
Late Thursday night, Judge Alsup issued his third order on the Bartz class notice. The order is the most scathing critique of the Bartz class’s process for class members.
Judge Alsup found that (1) the class website lacks a button for class members to opt out while presenting a button to file a claim for settlement money and (2) “the entire process engineered by class counsel is steered toward submitting claims and steered away from opting out.”
Judge Alsup’s Third Order
Judge Alsup’s Third Order last night expressed even greater concerns about the entire class process. The Judge found the entire process was slanted: “But the most important among them is that the entire process engineered by class counsel is steered toward submitting claims and steered away from opting out.”
Judge Alsup ordered the following for Class Counsel to implement “IMMEDIATELY”:
Complete disabling of current Class Website: “IMMEDIATELY, class counsel shall disable the claim form and remove all text and functionality from the website except for a faithful reproduction of the approved buckslip with approved long-form class notice, and/or the list of and links to the key documents in the case.”
Website Must Give “Equal Dignity” to Opt Out, including an Opt Out Button and Form: “The options to file a claim and to opt out must be equal in dignity. The following are specifically ordered requirements and also examples of the principle to heed: If there is a button to file a claim, there must be a nearby button to opt out. If there is an electronic form to file a claim, there must be an electronic form to opt out (which was promised but not delivered). If there is an electronic form to file a claim that comes prepopulated and perfectly crafted to be easy and compliant with all requirements, then there must be an electronic form to opt out that comes prepopulated and perfectly crafted to be easy and compliant with all requirements.”
Website Must Present All 4 Options (File a claim, Opt out, Object, Do nothing) before offering class member any button to elect an option: “All four options — file a claim, opt out, object, do nothing — as well as their implications for class members’ rights must be presented before any button (or link) is presented to take anyone to any of these options. Before presenting buttons (or links), they must be advised that there is a complete, Court-approved notice about the preliminarily approved settlement that the Court advises class members to read before deciding how to act.”
Electronic Form to File or Opt Out Should Direct to Class Notice and 4 Options: “Related to the last point, the electronic claim form and the electronic opt out form must have on any such form’s first page the statement that class members should first read the district court’s class notice discussing the settlement and class members’ four options under it with a link (or button) thereto to learn more.”
