AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) — The Office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that a federal court agreed with the state’s brief, rejecting the proposed class action settlement in the Similasan Corporation case.
Similasan had been accused of false advertising for its homeopathic products. A proposed settlement would have only paid class attorneys and two plaintiffs, while not providing relief for affected consumers.
“Class actions should be a means to make injured persons whole, not a tool to enrich lawyers at the expense of the very injured persons they claim to represent,” Paxton said.
To fight the settlement, Arizona, Texas and six other attorneys general filed a brief July 28. In the brief, the attorneys general said the settlement was unfair, unreasonable and inadequate for consumers. “Only the defendant, class counsel, and the named plaintiffs receive particularized value from the deal, which fails to protect the absent class members,” the brief stated.
“All class members are giving up all of their non-personal injury monetary claims against the defendant without receiving any compensation different from the public at large,” the court said.