ADVERTISEMENT
WaPo s $6.7M Calif. Auto-Renew Settlement Gets Initial OK
Law360, San Francisco (July 7, 2021, 9:53 PM EDT) A California federal judge gave his initial approval Wednesday to a $6.7 million settlement ending class allegations that The Washington Post automatically renewed digital subscriptions in violation of the state s Automatic Renewal Law, saying the deal seems reasonable when compared to a similar settlement involving The New York Times.
U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick said during a remote hearing Wednesday that he s inclined to grant preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, which includes credit in the form of access to the digital edition of the Post, to current and former California subscribers. The settlement also includes a commitment by the media.
Hearst Tower in New York City. (By Flip666 via Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 1.0)
SAN DIEGO (CN) Californians who subscribed to cooking, home improvement and women’s interest magazines published by the Hearst media conglomerate will see their false advertising class action proceed as a federal judge this week declined the company’s request to dismiss their case.
U.S. District Judge William Hayes found California magazine subscribers sufficiently alleged Hearst violated the state’s Automatic Renewal Law and Unfair Competition Law through its alleged false advertising of temporary one and two-year magazine subscriptions.
The women claim after paying for the temporary subscriptions, they were included in an automatic annual renewal program and their credit cards were charged without their consent.