Class Action Roundup – Facebook, McDonald’s, Rodan + Fields and More [UPDATE]
by Ty Armstrong
Last Updated on June 25, 2025
May 12, 2022 – Facebook BIPA Settlement Granted Final Approval
U.S. District Judge James Donato granted final approval of Facebook’s $650 million settlement with Illinois users in February 2021, calling the deal a “landmark result” for a biometric privacy class action.
According to a February 26 order, the settlement is “one of the largest settlements ever for a privacy violation” and provided at least a $345 payment to each person who filed a valid claim. As of December 14, 2020, more than 1.5 million people had filed claim forms.
“Overall, the settlement is a major win for consumers in the hotly contested area of digital privacy,” Judge Donato wrote.
The official settlement website states that payments began to be sent out on May 9, 2022 in a process that is estimated to take about two weeks. The settlement administrator noted that claimants should wait until mid-June before making inquiries about missing payments.
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August 26, 2020 - $650 Million Biometric Privacy Settlement Gets Preliminary OK, Now Awaits Final Approval
After rebuffing an initial $550 million agreement reached earlier this year over serious fairness concerns, a federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a revised $650 million settlement to be paid by Facebook over alleged violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
The massive deal, preliminarily green-lit by U.S. District Judge James Donato on August 19, covers Illinois users whose faces a number of proposed class actions alleged were scanned via facial recognition technology without consent as a way to boost Facebook’s “tag suggestions” feature.
In addition to the settlement’s monetary component, Facebook has also agreed to set the face recognition default user setting to “off” and delete all existing and stored face templates for Illinois users unless the company obtains express consent to keep a template via a separate disclosure, Judge Donato’s eight-page approval order says.
“The $650 million that will be awarded to the Illinois class is an impressive result both as an absolute number and relative to other class action settlements in privacy cases,” the judge wrote. “This is all the more true in light of the risks for plaintiffs in going to trial.”
Illinois Facebook users covered by the settlement will be notified via the social media platform.
A hearing for final settlement approval is scheduled for January 7 at 10 a.m.
Our newest roundup has more of the latest class action news, including more heat for Facebook, refunds for the botched Mayweather-McGregor fight streams, a popular multi-level marketing company facing legal action, and more. Let’s get into it!
More Bad News for Facebook
The latest hit against Facebook could cost the social media giant billions of dollars in damages. This time, Facebook is finally being held accountable for its facial recognition software. The case, which deals with alleged violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), was initiated back in 2015 and has just recently been given the green light for class action status – so a resolution shouldn’t be too far behind.
Specifically, the lawsuit takes issue with Facebook storing its users’ biometric data without their consent – the same tech that prompts you to tag specific friends when a picture of them gets uploaded to the network. If successful, BIPA fines would add up quickly, ranging between $1,000 and $5,000 for each use of someone’s image without their permission.
Need more information about the tag suggestion feature and the surrounding litigation? The Verge has you covered.
McDonald’s Escapes Extra Value Meal Litigation
A proposed class action over McDonald’s allegedly misleading use of the term “extra value meal” has been tossed. According to the initial complaint, the items found in a “value meal” can be ordered individually for less than the cost of ordering the meal – and was therefore an attempt to mislead customers into spending more. U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo disagreed with this argument, however. She found that since the individual prices for the items were readily available to all customers, and that price comparisons could be made at will, the claims of trickery didn’t hold up.
Eater has the rest of the scoop right here.
Settlement Offers Refunds for Mayweather-McGregor Streaming Issues
In a relatively quick turnaround as far as class actions go, the UFC and its streaming partner have agreed to settle claims over a live stream that couldn’t hold up during the massively hyped fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. Under the settlement, anyone who missed more than five minutes of the fight due to streaming interruptions will be entitled to a full $99.99 refund, while those who missed less than five minutes will still get $50. Even those who only missed the preliminary fights will be able to claim $25. Look for final approval of the settlement after a July 20th fairness hearing.
Head over to MMAjunkie for the rest of the story.
Prominent MLM Rodan + Fields Facing Class Action over Eyelash Growth Serum
You may have seen your Facebook friends advertising the company at the heart of this next suit. Rodan + Fields is facing a proposed class action that claims its Lash Boost (an eyelash growth serum) can cause various adverse side effects when applied. According to the case, one of the product’s ingredients (isopropyl cloprostenate) can lead to painful rashes, swelling, bumps, and irritation, among other symptoms. The lawsuit claims the company failed to warn customers about these side effects and deceptively marketed and labeled the product.
Check out this Racked article for more information on the product and the litigation.
Consumer Reports Publisher Reaches Data Privacy Settlement
The publisher of Consumer Reports magazine has recently agreed to settle claims that it unlawfully sold its readers’ personal information to third parties. According to the lawsuit, the readers’ income level, race, age, religion, and medical conditions (among other things) can be found among the information that was sold. If the settlement doesn’t go through any changes on its way to final approval, the fund will be just shy of $16.5 million. The settlement covers about 560,000 people in Michigan only – but the case highlights growing privacy concerns especially in light of Facebook’s recent data mining scandal.
If you want to know more, be sure to check out this article from Reuters.
More Than 40 University Hospitals Fertility Clinic Lawsuits Consolidated
A Cleveland judge recently announced that more than 40 lawsuits, filed over a major fertility center failure at University Hospitals, are going to be consolidated so they can be handled as a single case. This should streamline the process since we won’t have to wait for each individual case to reach a final decision. The cases in question are looking for compensation after a University Hospitals fertility center in Cleveland experienced tank malfunctions that potentially damaged nearly 4,000 frozen eggs and embryos. While the maker of the tanks blames human error, the hospital said that the storage units had been having problems for weeks.
Hopefully, we’ll see some more progress on this case soon, but for now, be sure to check out Cleveland.com for the current story.
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