If You Purchased Liquid Aluminum Sulfate In The United States Directly From A Defendant From January 1, 1997 Through February 28, 2011, You Could Be Affected By A Proposed Class Action Settlement
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The information contained on this web page is only a summary of information presented in more detail in the Notice. Because this website is just a summary, you should review the Notice for additional details.
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Throughout the Notice and this website there are capitalized terms with specific meanings. Unless otherwise defined, these terms shall have the same meanings defined in the Settlement Agreement available here.
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The purpose of this website is to advise you of the pendency of the class action lawsuit called In Re: Liquid Aluminum Sulfate Antitrust Litigation (“Action”) and the proposed partial settlement (the “Settlement”) reached in the Action between Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs1 and settling defendant C&S Chemicals, Inc. (“C&S”)2. The Court preliminarily approved the Settlement on September 11, 2019. The Settlement does not release any claims of Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs and the other members of the Direct Purchaser Settlement Class (as defined below) against any other Defendant named in the Action.3
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Pursuant to the Settlement, C&S agreed to pay a total of $1.3 million in cash, payable monthly installments over four years, with 4.5% interest. C&S denies all of Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs’ claims and denies all wrongdoing, but has agreed to settle in order to avoid the cost and risk of a trial.
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This lawsuit involves liquid aluminum sulfate or “Alum.” Alum is a chemical utilized by municipalities and industries for a variety of uses including, inter alia, treating drinking water, controlling algae in lakes and ponds, treating wastewater, manufacturing paper and pulp and fixing dyes to textiles. The Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs allege that C&S participated in a conspiracy – with other Defendants in the Action and unnamed co-conspirators – to allocate territories and/or not to compete for each other’s historical business by rigging bids, allocating customers and fixing, stabilizing, and maintaining the price of Alum sold in the United States from January 1, 1997 to at least February 28, 2011 in violation of the federal antitrust laws. C&S denies all of these claims and has asserted various defenses to the claims. The Court has not made any decision as to the merits of Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs’ claims against C&S because the Parties have agreed to settle these claims.
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The Settlement described in the Notice pertains only to direct purchasers of Alum (i.e., those that purchased Alum in the United States directly from a Defendant). There is another lawsuit pending in the same Court that was brought on behalf of indirect purchasers, which are entities that purchased Alum from distributors or from other direct purchasers.
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The Court still has to decide whether to finally approve the Settlement. Approval of the Settlement by the Court will resolve the lawsuit against C&S.
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Your legal rights are affected whether you act or don’t act. The Notice includes important information about the lawsuit and the Settlement.
| A SUMMARY OF YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT | |
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SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM POSTMARKED ON, OR SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM ONLINE, NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 26, 2019. |
If you wish to make a claim against the Settlement Funds, you will need to submit a Claim Form in order to be eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement. The portion, if any, of the Settlement Funds to be allocated to you will be calculated on a pro rata basis based on your eligible purchases of Alum. (See Question 9 and Question 10). |
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ASK TO BE EXCLUDED BY SUBMITTING A WRITTEN REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION SO THAT IT IS RECEIVED NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 24, 2019. |
If you ask to be excluded from the Direct Purchaser Settlement Class and the Court approves the Settlement, you will not receive any money from the Settlement. This is the only option that allows you to be part of any other lawsuit against C&S for the claims in this case. (See Question 13). |
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OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT BY SUBMITTING A WRITTEN OBJECTION SO THAT IT IS RECEIVED NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 24, 2019. |
If you do not like the Settlement, or any part of it, you may write to the Court and explain why you do not like the Settlement. You can only object to the Settlement if you are a Direct Purchaser Settlement Class Member and you do not exclude yourself. (See Question 17). |
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GO TO THE COURT’S FINAL FAIRNESS HEARING ON NOVEMBER 14, 2019 AT 2:00 PM |
If you submit a written objection, you may (but you do not have to) attend the hearing and, at the discretion of the Court, speak to the Court about your objection. (See Question 19, Question 20 and Question 21). |
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You do not have to take any action to remain part of the Direct Purchaser Settlement Class. (See Question 22). However, by doing nothing, you give up any rights to sue C&S about the claims in this case and you will not receive a payment from the Settlement. |
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1Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs are Central Arkansas Water; City of Charlotte, North Carolina; City and County of Denver, Colorado, acting by and through its board of Water Commissioners; Flambeau River Papers, LLC; City of Greensboro, North Carolina; Mobile Area Water and Sewer System; City of Rochester, Minnesota; City of Sacramento, California; SUEZ Water Environmental Services Inc.; SUEZ Water New Jersey Inc.; SUEZ Water Princeton Meadows Inc.; SUEZ Water New York Inc.; SUEZ Water Pennsylvania Inc.; and City of Texarkana, Arkansas, City of Texarkana, Texas, d/b/a Texarkana Water Utilities, and City of Shreveport, Louisiana.
2The full terms of the Settlement are set forth in the Settlement Agreement between Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs and Defendant C&S and between Direct Purchaser Class Plaintiffs, a copy of which can be viewed on the Settlement website, www.liquidaluminumdirectsettlement.com. All capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined herein have the meanings set forth in the Settlement Agreement. In the event of any conflicts between the terms of this Notice and the Settlement Agreement, the Settlement Agreement shall control.
3The named defendants are General Chemical Corporation, General Chemical Performance Products, LLC, General Chemical LLC, GenTek Inc., Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund, Chemtrade Logistics Inc., Chemtrade Chemicals Corporation, Chemtrade Chemicals US, LLC, Chemtrade Solutions, LLC, C&S Chemicals, Inc., GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc., USALCO, LLC, Kemira Chemicals, Inc., Southern Ionics, Incorporated, American Securities, Inc., Frank A. Reichl, Brian C. Steppig, Vincent J. Opalewski, Alex Avraamides, Amita Gupta, and Kenneth A. Ghazey. (collectively, “Defendants”).