Taylor v. Shutterfly, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided December 7, 2021·No. 5:18-cv-00266·Unknown

Opinion

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA MEGAN TAYLOR, individually and on behalf of all CASE NO. 5:18-cv-00266-BLF others similarly situated, [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING Plaintiff, FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT v. AS MODIFIED BY THE COURT SHUTTERFLY, INC., and DOES 1-50,

Defendants.

Plaintiff Megan Taylor (“Plaintiff” or “Class Representative”) has moved the Court for final approval of a proposed class action settlement with Defendant Shutterfly, Inc. (“Shutterfly” or “Defendant”), the terms and conditions of which are set forth in the Settlement Agreement filed with the Court on August 20, 2021 (“Settlement Agreement”) (Dkt. 98-2). For the reasons described more fully below, the Court GRANTS final approval of the Settlement. All capitalized terms used in this Order have the meaning as defined in the Settlement Agreement. PROCEDURAL HISTORY This case concerns Defendant Shutterfly, Inc.’s (“Shutterfly” or “Defendant”) advertising and selling of deals on Groupon.com that were sold between June 1, 2015 to April 30, 2018 (the “Class Period”) for a price paid (“Paid Value”) which could be redeemed at a greater dollar value (“Promotional Value”) towards a purchase on Shutterfly’s website within a set period of time (the “Shutterfly General Spend Groupons”). For example, the Groupon “$20 for $40 to Spend at Shutterfly” had a Paid Value of $20 and a Promotional Value of $40. The procedural history is summarized in the Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement (the “Preliminary Approval Order”) (Dkt. 99.) Under the Settlement Agreement, Defendant is stipulating to add the following disclosures to the terms and conditions of any Shutterfly General Spend Groupons offered for sale ninety (90) days after the Effective Date (unless such fact is untrue for the particular Shutterfly General Spend Groupon being offered): (i) “By purchasing this offer you will obtain a promotional code for use at the Shutterfly website.” (ii) “When you redeem the Groupon at Shutterfly, you cannot use any other Shutterfly promotional code on the same order to obtain additional discounts. Instead, you must pay the undiscounted price.” And (iii) “When you redeem the Groupon at Shutterfly, you [also] cannot use any Shutterfly free shipping code on the same order. Instead, you must pay for shipping.” The terms of the Settlement are summarized in the proposed Long Form Notice to Class Members, which is attached as Exhibit B1 to the Settlement Agreement. Under the proposed settlement, Class Members who purchased a Shutterfly General Spend Groupon that was never redeemed are entitled to a Shipping Code for free shipping on a future purchase on the Shutterfly Website and a Promotional Code worth 110% of the original Promotional Value of the Shutterfly General Spend Groupon purchased. Class Members who redeemed a Shutterfly General Spend Groupon are entitled to a Shipping Code for free shipping on a future purchase on the Shutterfly Website and a Promotional Code worth 20% of the original Promotional Value of the Shutterfly General Spend Groupon or at their option, a Cash Refund equal to 10% of the Promotional Value of the Groupon, plus 50% of the amount the Class Member paid Shutterfly for shipping in connection with the order in which the Groupon was redeemed. Cash Refunds are available only to Class Members who file claims according to the instructions in the Long Form Notice, but the Shipping Code and Promotional Codes will be distributed to Class Members automatically without the need for a claim. NOTICE AND SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATION The Settlement Agreement is being administered by a well-known, independent claims administrator, Angeion Group, LLC (“Angeion”). Following the Court’s Preliminary Approval which contained the Class Notice, including the procedures for Class Members to submit claims or exclude themselves, a contact information page that includes address and telephone numbers for the Claim Administrator and the parties, the Settlement Agreement, the Preliminary Approval Order, online and printable versions of the Claim Form and the opt out forms, and answers to frequently asked questions. (Dkt. 101 ¶ 18.) In addition, the papers in support of final approval and Plaintiff’s application for Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses and Incentive Award were placed on the Settlement Website after they were filed. (Id.) The Claim Administrator also operated a toll- free number for Class Member inquiries. (Id. ¶ 19.) Class Notice was provided via direct notice which referred Class Members to the Settlement Website. (Id. ¶¶ 11-18.) In particular, Class Notice was provided via: (1) direct Email Notice to those Class Members for whom an email address was available; (2) direct Postcard Notice mailed to those Class Members for whom a physical mailing address was available but a valid email address was not available; and (3) publication on a Settlement Website. Id. In total, the Claim Administrator is estimated to have delivered more than 225,000 notices via mail and email. (Id. ¶¶ 11-17.) In particular, on September 10, 2021, the Claim Administrator caused E-Mail Notice to be sent to the 96,177 Class Members with valid email addresses. (Id. ¶ 11.) On September 11, 2021, Angeion caused Postcard Notice to be mailed to the 1,051 Class Members who did not have a valid email address but had a mailing address. (Id. ¶ 12.) On September 23, 2021, Angeion caused Postcard notice to be mailed to 708 Class Members to whom E-Mail Notice had bounced back as undeliverable. (Id. ¶¶ 13-14.) Class Members were given until November 9, 2021 to object to or exclude themselves from the proposed Settlement. A total of 2,444 Claims were received by the Claim Administrator. (Id. ¶ 21.) Of these, 2,425 Claims were deemed valid. (Id.) Cash Refunds will paid totaling $39,740.02. (Id.) In addition to the 2,425 Class Members that submitted valid Claim Forms for a cash refund, 63,098 additional Redeemer Class Members will receive Benefits Notice providing them with promotional codes worth a total of $815,730.00 and free shipping codes. (Id.) An additional 30,420 Non-Redeemer Class Members will receive Benefits Notice providing them 2,183 Both Class Members that will receive Benefits Notice providing them with promotional codes worth a total of $163,323.00 and free shipping codes. (Id.) ANALYSIS A. JURISDICTION This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2). B. CERTIFICATION OF THE CLASS A class action is maintainable only if it meets the four requirements of Rule 23(a): (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable; (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class; (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). In addition to satisfying the Rule 23(a) requirements, “parties seeking class certification must show that the action is maintainable under Rule 23(b)(1), (2), or (3).” Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 614 (1997). Plaintiff seeks certification under Rule 23(b)(3), Prelim. App. Mot., ECF No. 94 at 17–19, which requires that (1) “questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members” and (2) “a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). When it granted preliminary approval of this class action settlement, this Court

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Taylor v. Shutterfly, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2021).

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