Williams v. PillPack LLC

Records indicate that you may have received a prerecorded or artificial voice call as part of the PillPack Performance Media Campaign and that call was transferred to a PillPack call center. The notice explains that the Court has granted Preliminary Approval of a settlement that may affect you. You have legal rights and options that you may exercise before the Court decides whether to approve the settlement. To get a payment from the settlement, you must complete and submit a Claim Form by January 20, 2025. Judge David G. Estudillo of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington is overseeing this class action. The lawsuit is known as Williams v. PillPack LLC, No. C19‐5282‐DGE (W.D. Wash.) (the “Lawsuit”).

In a class action, one or more people, called class representatives, sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All of these people are a class, or class members. One court resolves the issues for all class members, except those who exclude themselves from the class.

Here, the class representatives allege that PillPack is liable for TCPA violations caused by its agents making prerecorded telemarketing calls to cellular telephones and then live-transferring those calls to a PillPack call center. The class representatives allege that class members did not give permission to receive these calls.

The Court has certified a Class that includes:

Defendant PillPack denies any wrongdoing and believes it has fully complied with the law. Defendant has asserted many defenses it believes would be successful at trial. In agreeing to settle, Defendant maintains that it complied with the law and does not admit any wrongdoing. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. The Court has not decided whether PillPack did anything wrong. If the Court approves the settlement, there will be no trial about the claims in the lawsuit.

In a class action, one or more people, called class representatives (in this case, Aaron Williams) sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All of these people are called a class, or class members. The class representative who sued, and all class members like him, are called plaintiffs. The company he sued (in this case, PillPack) is called the Defendant. One court resolves the issues for everyone in the class except for those people who choose to exclude themselves from the class.

The Court decided that this lawsuit can be a class action and move toward a trial because it meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, which governs class actions in federal courts. Specifically, the Court found that

1. Questions of law or fact common to the members of the classes predominate over any questions affecting only individual members and
2. A class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.

The Plaintiff filed his complaint. PillPack filed an answer that denies Plaintiff's allegations. The Court granted class certification. The Parties subsequently agreed to a settlement and the Court has granted Preliminary Approval of the proposed settlement.

Please see the Important Documents page to access court documents.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if you (1) received a prerecorded voice call as part of the PillPack Performance Media campaign between March 13, 2018, and June 16, 2019; (2) Performance Media or its agents live transferred the call to a PillPack call center on the DNIS 866-298-0058; and (3) Performance Media or its agents did not obtain the cellular telephone number through RewardZoneUSA.com, NationalConsumerCenter.com, FindDreamJobs.com, InstantPlaySweepstakes.com, StartACareerToday.com, SamplesAndSavings.com, SweepstakesADay.com, SurveyVoices.com, or FinanceDoneRight.com between June 19, 2017, and May 3, 2019, before the date(s) of the call(s).

If you received a notice of this settlement via email or email, that means records indicate that you might be part of the Settlement Class.

The Settlement Class does not include PillPack, any entity that has a controlling interest in PillPack, and PillPack’s current or former directors, officers, counsel, and their immediate families.

The Settlement Class also does not include any person who validly requests exclusion from the Settlement Class, or Melvin Tyson, who validly requested exclusion from the certified class.

The complete terms of the settlement are found in the Settlement Agreement.

If the settlement is approved and becomes final, PillPack will pay $6.5 million ($6,500,000) into a Settlement Fund. This money will be used to: (1) make Claimant Awards to Settlement Class Members who complete a valid Claim Form; (2) pay the costs of distributing notice and settlement payments to Settlement Class Members and other costs of administering the settlement; and (3) pay court‐awarded attorneys' fees and litigation expenses of the attorneys appointed by the Court to represent the Class (“Class Counsel”) and any Service Award granted to the Plaintiff.

Class Counsel estimates that payments could be between $600 and $1,500. This is only an estimate; the final amount may be more or less depending on the number of claims made. You must complete a Claim Form to get a payment.

If you stay in the Settlement Class, you will be giving up any and all claims against PillPack or related entities for prerecorded voice calls about PillPack made from March 13, 2018, to June 16, 2019. Specifically, the settlement will release any and all claims, rights (including rights to restitution or reimbursement), demands, actions, causes of action, suits, liens, damages, attorneys' fees, obligations, contracts, liabilities, agreements, costs, expenses, or losses of any nature, whether known or unknown, direct or indirect, matured or unmatured, contingent or absolute, existing or potential, suspected or unsuspected, equitable or legal, and whether under federal statutory law, federal common law, or federal regulation, or the statutes, constitutions, regulations, ordinances, common law, or any other law of any and all states or their subdivisions, parishes, or municipalities that arise out of or relate in any way to prerecorded voice message calls placed as part of the PillPack Performance Media Campaign (collectively, “Claims”), that have been, or could have been, brought in the Action, as well as any claims arising out of the same nucleus of operative facts as any of the claims asserted in the Action.

The full Settlement Agreement is available here.

If the settlement is approved and becomes final, Settlement Class Members who complete and submit a valid Claim Form will be issued a payment. Settlement Class Members' payment amounts will be shared equally among all Settlement Class Members who submit valid Claim Forms after the Court‐ordered deduction of settlement costs, attorneys' fees, expenses, and any Service Award granted to the Plaintiff. Class Counsel estimates that payments could range between $600 and $1,500 per claimant, although the actual amount could be higher or lower depending on how many valid Claim Forms are received.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, to receive a payment you need to complete and submit a Claim Form by January 20, 2025. The Claim Form allows Settlement Class Members to elect the method by which they wish to receive payments, including paper checks or electronic payment.

For any payments that are uncashed or deemed undeliverable by the Settlement Administrator, the funds will be distributed by one or both of the following means: (1) a pro rata second distribution to those Settlement Class Members who cashed/received their initial payments (if there are sufficient residual funds to justify the administrative costs of such distribution); and/or (2) a distribution to the Legal Foundation of Washington.

Complete a Claim Form by January 20, 2025. This is the only way to get a payment from the settlement. The Claim Form requires you to confirm that you were the owner or regular user of a phone number during the date of the calls and that, to the best of your knowledge and belief, you did not provide prior written consent to receive the prerecorded call(s). The Claim Form allows Settlement Class Members to elect the method by which they wish to receive payments, including paper checks or electronic payment.

Once completed, the Claim Form can be submitted electronically or printed and mailed to the following address:

Williams v. PillPack
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 5563
Portland, OR 97228-5563

Mailed Claim Forms must be postmarked by January 20, 2025. Each Settlement Class Member is entitled to submit only one Claim Form, regardless of the number calls they received. If you submit a Claim Form through the settlement website, please do not submit a duplicate Claim Form by mail, and vice versa. Duplicate claim forms will be rejected.

By doing nothing, you are staying in the Settlement Class, but you are giving up the ability to get a payment from the settlement. To get a payment, you must complete and submit a Claim Form by January 20, 2025. By doing nothing or completing a Claim Form, you are choosing to stay in the Settlement Class and if the settlement becomes final, you give up any rights to sue the Defendant separately about the same issues in this Action.

By staying in the Settlement Class, you may object to or comment on the settlement and/or or to Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees, litigation expenses, and Service Award. You do not need to object or comment in order to receive a payment.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and have not excluded yourself from the settlement, you can comment on or object to the settlement, Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees and litigation expenses, and/or the request for a Service Award for the Plaintiff. To object or comment, you must send a written objection/comment including the following:

1. The name and case number of this Action (Williams v. PillPack LLC, No. C19‐5282‐DGE (W.D. Wash.));
2. Your full name, mailing address, and telephone number
3. All objections and the basis for any such objections stated with specificity, including a statement as to whether the objection applies only to the objector, to a specific subset of the class, or to the entire class, and an explanation of the basis for your contention that you are a Settlement Class Member, including the cellular telephone number(s) on which you received a call you assert was part of the PillPack Performance Media Campaign
4. If you are represented by counsel, the name and telephone number of any attorney representing you in this matter, or any attorney who may be entitled to compensation for any reason related to the objection; whether counsel intends to submit a request for fees; and all factual and legal support for that request
5. A statement of whether or not you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, and if so, the identity of all counsel representing you who will appear at the Final Approval Hearing (who must enter a written Notice of Appearance of Counsel with the Clerk of the Court)
6. The identity of any witnesses you may call to testify
7. A listing of all exhibits you intend to introduce into evidence at the Final Approval Hearing, as well as true and correct copies of such exhibits

Your comment or objection must be postmarked no later than January 20, 2025, and mailed to the following address:

Williams v. PillPack
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 5563
Portland, OR 97228-9846

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must mail a written request for exclusion, which includes the following:

• The case name and number (Williams v. PillPack LLC, Case No. 3:19-cv-05282-DGE);
• Your name, address, and telephone number;
• A clear statement that you want to be excluded from the Settlement Class, such as “I hereby request to be excluded from the Settlement Class in Williams v. PillPack LLC, Case No. 3:19-cv-05282-DGE.”; and
• Your signature and the date.

The exclusion request must be sent to the Settlement Administrator at the following address postmarked by January 20, 2025:

Williams v. PillPack
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 5563
Portland, OR 97228-9846

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by email, and you cannot opt out on behalf of anyone else.

You have the right to exclude yourself if for any reason you do not wish to be part of the Settlement Class. If you are already pursuing claims against PillPack for violations of telemarketing laws, or plan to pursue such claims, you should talk to your lawyer in that matter. You should exclude yourself from the Settlement Class if you wish to separately make claims against PillPack based on telemarketing. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement Class—which also means to remove yourself from the Class, and is sometimes called “opting out” of the Class—you will not get a payment from the Settlement.

The Court has appointed Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Smith & Dietrich Law Offices PLLC, and Paronich Law PC to represent you and all Class members. These lawyers are called Class Counsel. They are experienced in handling similar cases. More information about the law firms, their practices, and their lawyers’ experience is available at TerrellMarshall.com, SmithDietrich.com, and ParonichLaw.com.

You do not need to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel is working on your behalf. However, if you want your own lawyer, you will have to hire them on your own. For example, you can ask a lawyer to appear in Court for you if you want someone other than Class Counsel to speak for you.

If you hire a lawyer to speak for you or to appear in Court, your lawyer should file a Notice of Appearance with the Court.

Class Counsel (lawyers from Terrell Marshall Law Group, Paronich Law, and Smith & Deitrich Law Offices) will ask the Court to approve payment of legal fees of $2,166,450, which is one third (33.33%) of the $6.5 million settlement fund, and out‐of‐pocket costs from the settlement. They will also request a Service Award of $20,000 for Aaron Williams.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on April 18, 2025 at 9:00 a.m., in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma, 1717 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98402. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time, or the Court may order that the hearing be held telephonically or by videoconference, without additional notice. Please check this website for updates or changes.

At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. The Court will also consider Class Counsel's application for attorneys' fees, expenses, and a Service Award. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take.

No. You do not have to attend or participate in the hearing to receive a payment. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. However, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you submit an objection, you do not have to come to the Court to talk about it, but you can at your own expense. So long as you submitted your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it is not necessary.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and have not opted out of the settlement, you may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. You cannot speak at the hearing if you exclude yourself from the Settlement Class.

Visit the Important Documents page of this website, where you will find the Court’s Order certifying the Class, Plaintiff’s Class Action Complaint, and PillPack’s Answer to the Class Action Complaint. You can also write to Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, 936 N 34th Street, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98103.

Complete copies of public pleadings, Court rulings, and other filings are available for review and copying at www.pacer.uscourts.gov.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT, THE JUDGE, OR THE DEFENDANT WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ACTION.