Donor Compensation Class Action Settlement: Read the Court-Approved Notice Here
If You Donated Eggs and Intend to Donate Eggs Again
Your Rights May Be Affected by a Proposed Class Action Settlement
This Notice is being provided by Order of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit regarding the compensation provided to women who have previously donated their own human eggs for assisted fertility and reproductive services and who intend to donate again in the future. The lawsuit is Kamakahi et al. v. American Society for Reproductive Medicine; Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Case No. CV-11-1781 (JCS). Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the defendants are obligated to make certain changes to their ethical guidance regarding compensation for egg donors.
The information contained in this notice is only a summary of information presented in more detail in the Settlement Agreement, which you can access at http://www.eggdonorclassaction.com/FileDownload.aspx?FileID=3448. Since this notice is just a summary, you should review the Settlement Agreement for additional details.
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT
OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT
You can ask the Court to deny approval of the settlement by filing an objection. The deadline to file an objection is July 29, 2016.
DO NOTHING
You do not need to do anything if you want the settlement to be approved.
ATTEND THE SETTLEMENT HEARING
You may attend, in person or through your attorney, the Final Approval Hearing in which the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. The hearing will be held on August 26, 2016 at 2:00 P.M. at the U.S. District Courthouse for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. The date may change without further notice to the class. Class members wishing to attend the Final Approval Hearing should check www.eggdonorclassaction.com to confirm that the date has not been changed.
What is this lawsuit about?
This class action was brought on behalf of women who donated human eggs for reproductive purposes through fertility clinics and donation agencies that agreed to comply with an ethical report issued by Defendant American Society for Reproductive Medicine ("ASRM") and followed by Defendant Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology ("SART"). The challenged portion of the ethical report states: “[t]otal payments to donors in excess of $5,000 require justification and sums above $10,000 are not appropriate.” Plaintiffs allege that these challenged compensation guidelines are enforced by Defendants and constitute a horizontal price fixing agreement in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Defendants disagree that the challenged compensation guidelines are unlawful, and contend that the challenged compensation guidelines are merely unenforced recommendations.
Why is this a class action?
In a class action, the named plaintiffs bring a suit on behalf of other people who are similarly situated to the plaintiffs. In this case, the named plaintiffs are Lindsey Kamakahi, Justine Levy, Chelsey Kimmel and Kristin Wells. Each of the named plaintiffs has donated human eggs though a clinic or agency that allegedly adhered to the challenged compensation guidelines. Named plaintiffs Kimmel and Wells intend to donate eggs again in the future and have been certified as representatives of the Settlement Class.
The Judge overseeing the case originally allowed it to proceed as a class action limited to the issue of whether the compensation guidelines violated the law. After the parties agreed to a settlement of the case, the Judge amended the original certification order to replace the original class with the Settlement Class. As described further below, the Settlement Class is made up of women who were members of the original class and who intend to donate in the future, but it is certified under a different provision of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, and allows the parties to carry out the Settlement Agreement.
Who is included?
You are a member of the Settlement Class if you:
Donated eggs for assisted reproduction purposes,
Within the United States and its territories,
At any time from April 12, 2007 to the present,
To or through any clinic that was, at the time of the donation, a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (“SART”) and/or any egg donation agency that was, at the time of the donation, agreeing to follow the challenged compensation guidelines (a “Complying Agency”), and
Intend to provide such donor services to or through a SART- member clinic or Complying Agency in the future.
What does the settlement provide?
The Court has preliminarily certified a Rule 23(b)(2) settlement class consisting of those women who have donated human eggs in the past and intend to donate in the future. The Settlement Agreement requires the defendants to eliminate the challenged compensation guidelines and refrain from setting similar guidelines in the future. The Settlement Agreement does not provide any monetary payments to class members and class members retain any rights that they have to sue for damages. Because important time limits may apply to claims for damages, any class member wishing to pursue a claim for damages should consult a lawyer to prevent a claim for damages from being barred forever by a time limit. Class Members will, however, release existing claims for injunctive, declaratory, or any other form of equitable relief arising from the conduct alleged in the class action, the setting of any dollar amounts, limits or ranges for donor compensation, or to the challenged compensation guidelines.
Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, the Defendants have agreed to pay plaintiffs’ attorneys $1.5 million to compensate them for their time and expenses in litigating the class action. Neither the named plaintiffs nor the class members are obligated to pay the attorneys any money.
The Defendants have also agreed to pay the four named plaintiffs a total of $20,000 in return for their release of all claims they have against the Defendants, including claims for damages. The attorneys representing the class will ask the Court to approve payment of $5000 to each of the four named plaintiffs.
All of the terms of the proposed Settlement, including the requirement to eliminate the challenged compensation guidelines, the payments to the attorneys, and the payments to the named plaintiffs are subject to Court approval at a “Final Approval Hearing” which will be explained below. A copy of the Settlement Agreement can be accessed at http://www.eggdonorclassaction.com/FileDownload.aspx?FileID=3448.
The Defendants do not admit liability as part of the Settlement and the Court has not found that the Defendants have violated the law.
What are my rights?
You cannot exclude yourself from the settlement. However, you can ask the Court to deny approval by filing an objection. You can’t ask the Court to change the terms of the settlement; the Court can only approve or deny the settlement. If the Court denies approval, the lawsuit will continue. If that is what you want to happen, you must object.
You may object to the proposed settlement in writing. You may also appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your own attorney. If you appear through your own attorney, you are responsible for paying that attorney. All written objections and supporting papers must (a) clearly identify the case name and number (Kamakahi et al. v. American Society for Reproductive Medicine; Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Case No. CV-11-1781 (JCS)), (b) be submitted to the Court either by mailing them to the Class Action Clerk, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, or by filing them in person at any location of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and (c) be filed or postmarked on or before July 29, 2016.
When and where will the Court decide whether to approve the settlement?
The Final Approval Hearing will be held on August 26, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at Courtroom G, 15th Floor, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102. The date may change without further notice to the class. Class members wishing to attend the Final Approval Hearing should check www.eggdonorclassaction.com to confirm that the date has not been changed.
Who represents the Class?
The attorneys representing the Class are:
Ellen Meriwether
emeriwether@caffertyclobes.com
Bryan L. Clobes
bclobes@caffertyclobes.com
CAFFERTY CLOBES MERIWETHER & SPRENGEL LLP
1101 Market Street, Suite 2650
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Telephone: 215-864-2800
Facsimile: 215-864-2810
Michael G. McLellan
mmclellan@finkelsteinthompson.com
Douglas G. Thompson
dthompson@finkelsteinthompson.com
FINKELSTEIN THOMPSON LLP
1077 30th Street NW, Suite 150
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: 202-337-8000
Facsimile: 202-337-8090
Where can I get more information?
This notice summarizes the proposed settlement. For the precise terms and conditions of the settlement, please see the Settlement Agreement available at http://www.eggdonorclassaction.com/FileDownload.aspx?FileID=3448, by contacting class counsel identified above, by accessing the Court docket in this case through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.
PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT