United States Ninth Circuit

In this class action challenging as anticompetitive an agreement under which Netflix and Walmart divided up DVD-related business, the district court's approval of a settlement between Walmart and a class of Netflix DVD subscribers is affirmed, where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the settlement class, as the class representatives were adequate even though they received incentive awards; 2) even though few class members actually filed claims, the district court did not err in using the claimant fund sharing approach; 3) the district court's notice of settlement did not violate either Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or due process; 4) the settlement was properly approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate under Rule 23(e); and 5) the award of attorneys' fees was not subject to provisions of the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) governing "coupon settlements" because the portion of the settlement to be paid in Walmart gift cards was not a "coupon settlement" within the meaning of CAFA.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/27/2015
• Published 02/27/2015

Judges

• Thomas

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel