Park Mobile is the company that finally allowed us to use smart technology to pay for parking meters, instead of running around with coins in our pockets. However, not all is so rosy with the company.
Park Mobile has agreed to settle a major class action lawsuit and award plaintiffs $32.8 million. Find out more about this below.
Park Mobile Class Action Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit in question was filed over a data breach that took place in 2021. The data breached included sensitive information such as payment methods, emails, phone numbers, and even license plate numbers.
For users who received a notification from Park Mobile, awards are now available.
There are two available:
Claimants could receive up to $25 from the settlement fund, or
Claimants can choose instead to receive a $1 credit on the app.
Use this form to claim your award, if eligible.
How Do Class Action Lawsuits Work?
Class action law has evolved over the last few decades. But there are specific rules binding class actions, known as Rule 23 in the federal rules for civil procedures. The Legal Information Institute lays out what the court must find in order to approve a class action:
The number of class members renders it impracticable to join them in the action
The class members’ claims share common questions of law or fact
The claims or defenses of the proposed class representatives are typical of those for the rest of the class, and
The proposed class representatives will adequately protect the interests of the entire class.
In short, multiple plaintiffs must all have sufficiently similar claims of damage, such that a ruling would largely have the same affect on all class members. The question is then before the court: have all these plaintiffs indeed suffered similar harm from the defendant?
How Long Do Class Action Lawsuits Take
Again, the answer is: it depends on the case.
In some cases, the answer is 10 minutes! Defendants can try to end the case before it even begins by settling with the plaintiffs – typically this means payments. According to Top Class Actions, settlements can typically take up to nine months or a year.
However, if class actions go to trial, the timeline becomes years long – typically two or three years, according to the Cochran Firm.
