A Court authorized the notice because you had a right to know about a proposed settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decided whether to give final approval to the settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Linda S. Jamieson of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Westchester, is overseeing this case. The case is called McCall, et al. v. Hercules Corp., Index No. 66810/2021. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs. The Defendant is Hercules Corp.

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives (in this case, Richard McCall and Abraham Libman) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

This lawsuit claims Plaintiffs Richard McCall and Abraham Libman (collectively, the “Class Representatives”) allege that Defendant allegedly misrepresented the value of its Laundry Cards by setting the reload amounts and laundry machine prices such that the Laundry Cards were guaranteed to have a remainder balance, and then charging consumers a $5 processing and handling fee to collect the unused balance, without clearly and conspicuously disclosing that fee. Hercules denies all allegations of wrongdoing, and the Court has not determined who is right. Rather, the Parties have agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or the Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Settlement Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The Court decided that everyone who fits the following description is a member of the Settlement Class:

All persons who possessed and used a Hercules Laundry Card after January 1, 2017 and stopped using their Hercules Laundry Card prior to July 13, 2021 and no longer possess their Hercules Laundry Card. The Settlement Class will be divided into two groups: (A) Group A, which consists of all class members who (i) were charged processing and handling fees in connection with recovering unused funds on a Hercules Laundry Card; or (ii) sent in their Hercules Laundry Card for a recovery of unused funds, but had those cards returned because they had less than a $5 balance; and (B) Group B, which consists of all other persons who possessed and used a Hercules Laundry Card after January 1, 2017 and stopped using their Hercules Laundry Card prior to July 13, 2021 and no longer possess their Hercules Laundry Card.

Monetary Relief: A Settlement Sum will be created totaling up to $2,362,500.00. Settlement Class Member cash payments will come out of this Sum (see FAQ 12). The cost to administer the settlement, the cost to inform people about the settlement, attorneys’ fees (inclusive of litigation costs), and awards to the Class Representatives will be paid by Defendant separately from the Settlement Sum and will not derogate from the Settlement Sum (see FAQ 12). A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement, a copy of which is accessible here.

Prospective Relief: In addition to the monetary relief described above, Defendant has agreed not to reinstate any fee for the recovery of unused funds on a Laundry Card.

You must have submitted a Claim Form to receive a share of the Settlement Fund by September 3, 2022. You may be entitled to receive a $3.00 cash payment if you possessed and used a Hercules Laundry Card after January 1, 2017 and stopped using the Hercules Laundry Card prior to July 13, 2021. Alternatively, you may receive a cash award of $15.00 if you: (i) were charged processing and handling fees in connection with recovering unused funds on a Hercules Laundry Card; or (ii) sent in your Hercules Laundry Card to Hercules for a recovery of unused funds, but had your card returned to you because it had less than a $5 balance. These cash payments may be subject to pro rata adjustment depending on the number of valid claims that are filed.

The hearing to consider the fairness of the settlement was held on July 12, 2022. The Court approved the settlement, thus eligible Class Members will receive their payment 30 days after the settlement has been finally approved and/or after any appeals process is complete. The payment will be made in the form of a check (unless Venmo or PayPal is selected), and all checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued.

You must have completed and submitted a Claim Form by September 3, 2022 to receive a payment from the Settlement Fund. You may have submitted a Claim Form either electronically on this website or printed and mailed in a paper Claim Form. Note that the Claim Form deadline has passed. 

As the Settlement is final, you will gave up your right to sue the Defendant and other Released Parties for the claims that were resolved by this settlement. The specific claims you gave up against the Defendant are described in the Settlement Agreement. You have “released” the Defendant and certain of its affiliates, employees and representatives as described in Section 1.26 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you excluded yourself (see FAQ 13), you have “released” the claims, regardless of whether you submit a claim or not. The Settlement Agreement is available through the “Important Documents” page here.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 11 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

The Court has appointed Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

The Defendant has agreed that Class Counsel may be paid reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses in an amount of $787,500.00 which was determined by the Court. Class Counsel was entitled to seek no more than one-third of the Settlement Sum, but the Court may have awarded less than this amount.

As approved by the Court, Defendant has also agreed that the Class Representatives may be paid a Service Award of $5,000 each from the Settlement Fund for their services in helping to bring and resolve this case.

If you had wanted to exclude yourself from the Settlement, you could have submitted a request for exclusion on or before May 31, 2022. Requests for exclusion should have been submitted either on this website or by mailing a letter to the Settlement Administrator. The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was May 31, 2022, and it has passed. 

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up any right to sue the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this settlement.

No. If you excluded yourself, you will not receive a payment from the Settlement.

If you are a Class Member, you could have objected to the Settlement if you didn't like any part of it. You could have given reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. If you had wanted to object, you should have filed a letter with the Court, and delivered a copy to Class Counsel and Defendant's Counsel on or before May 31, 2022.

Additionally, if you had wanted to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing to object to the Settlement, with or without a lawyer (explained below in answer to FAQ 20), you should have said so in your letter. The deadline to object to the Settlement was May 31, 2022 and it has passed.

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the settlement. You could have objected only if you stayed in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you excluded yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing at 11:00 a.m. on July 12, 2022 at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Westchester, Courtroom 103, 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., White Plains, NY 10601. The purpose of the hearing was for the Court to determine whether to approve the settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for Service Awards to the Class Representatives. At that hearing, the Court was available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the settlement. The Court decided to approve the Settlement and a copy of the Order can be reviewed on the Important Documents page here.

The Notice summarizes the settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement here. You may also write with questions to Hercules Laundry Card Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91067, Seattle, WA 98111. You can call the Settlement Administrator at (888) 964-2126 or Class Counsel at (646) 837-7150, if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read the full Notice carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on this website.