If you follow the news, you may have come across stories of “class-action lawsuits.”
Per Investopedia, “A class action is a legal proceeding in which one or more plaintiffs bring a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group, known as the class. Any proceeds from a class-action suit after legal fees, whether through a judgment or a settlement, are shared among all members of the class.”
To put that in layman’s terms, this means that if there’s a financial settlement awarded by a company, and you’ve been affected by that company in the manner laid out by the lawsuit, you may be entitled to a portion of that settlement. Declaring that you are part of the affected class is free.
In many cases, the “class” of a class-action lawsuit can be so large that one’s individual payout is relatively low. Still, it can be a way to get paid a little extra money, as TikTok user @not.that_short08 recently detailed.
In a clip with over 672,000 views, the TikToker claims to have applied for several class-actions lawsuits after watching videos from TikTok user Lawyer Angela. As a result, she accrued $116.51.
“I completely forgot about it too but this is your sign i guess,” she wrote in the caption.
@not.that_short08 I completely forgot about it too but this is your sign i guess #classactionlawsuit #fyp #foryoupage ♬ Karma (feat. Ice Spice) – Taylor Swift
By signing on to a class-action settlement, one is making a legal oath that they were genuinely part of one of the groups impacted by the company’s alleged actions.
The class-actions lawsuits in @not.that_short08’s video appear to be as follows. Note that a settlement does not mean that the company admitted guilt.
Zoom. Per The Guardian, “Zoom has agreed to a ‘historic’ payout of $85m as part of a class-action settlement brought by its users, including church groups who said they were left traumatized” by “zoom bombers” — “hackers and pranksters crash[ing] into virtual meetings with abusive messages and imagery.”
Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. “This lawsuit alleges that Godiva Chocolate Products were advertised as being made in Belgium when they are not exclusively manufactured there. Godiva denies the allegations,” according to Kroll Settlement Administration.
Plaid, Inc. “Approximately 5,000 mobile and web-based applications…use Plaid to enable users to connect the app to the users’ bank account(s). This class action alleges Plaid took certain improper actions in connection with this process…Plaid denies these allegations and any wrongdoing and maintains that it adequately disclosed and maintained transparency about its practices to consumers,” per the settlement website.
TikTok. “…A class-action lawsuit [was] brought against the Chinese company behind TikTok — ByteDance — claiming that the company illegally kept and used personal data from users,” reads 13 News Now. “While ByteDance denied the allegations, they agreed to settle in Feb. 2021.” The settlement was for $92 million.
Welch Foods Inc. “A California federal judge has approved a $1.5 million settlement to end claims that Welch’s grape juices mislead consumers into thinking they support heart health,” per Law360.
Back on TikTok, users shared their own class-action settlement payouts, both big and small.
“I literally showed proof of purchase for the Celsius lawsuit and only got… and I’m not kidding you… 94¢,” wrote one user.
“i did the tiktok one and got like $170,” claimed a second.
“I got $400+ on one from chegg and $60 from the huda one,” shared a third.
We’ve reached out to @not.that_short08 via TikTok comment.