NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) -- Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper announced Thursday that individuals who filed a refund claim for Skechers USA Inc.-brand toning shoes will soon receive a refund check from a court-appointed settlement administrator.
BMC Group will send 509,175 checks to consumers for about $34 each as part of a $38 million settlement fund.
Officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of shoes were bought in Tennessee, though not everyone filed the refund claims.
"I am pleased consumers are receiving refunds and want to encourage consumers to cash their Skechers refund checks before Oct. 10," Cooper said in a statement.
The payments are the result of a settlement reached with Skechers, the Federal Trade Commission and a group of 42 states led by Cooper's office and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office and a class action lawsuit.
The agreement called for Skechers to pay $40 million in restitution, minus administration costs.
Skechers allegedly made health-related claims in the selling, offering, advertising, packaging and marketing of its rocker-bottom shoe products, including Tone-ups, Shape-ups and the Skechers Resistance Runner that were not adequately substantiated.
The company also allegedly claimed its shoe products caused consumers to firm muscles, fight cellulite, improve circulation, burn calories and lose weight.
Skechers did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the agreement.