DES MOINES, IOWA (September 19, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed two briefs opposing settlement agreements that abuse the system and take advantage of the harmed Americans that the lawsuits were supposed to support.
Google Settlement
The Google settlement resolves a class-action lawsuit by Americans who were tracked by the search engine despite their wishes. Of the $62 million, $42.6 million will be sent to left-wing activist groups that have nothing to do with Google, including the ACLU. The ACLU has already made it clear that it will use its resources to fund advocacy and lawsuits relating to abortion and LGBTQ issues. The remaining money goes to the attorneys. Zero dollars from the settlement will go to the Americans who have been harmed.
“This settlement wrongfully prioritizes left-wing political agendas over the people the lawsuit was supposed to help,” said AG Bird. “Americans who were tracked by Google against their wishes get nothing, while trial lawyers use them as pawns to pump settlement funds into left-wing activist groups that many of the Americans who were represented in the lawsuit do not even support. These include groups such as the ACLU, which has made clear that it will use its resources to promote abortion and LGBTQ issues. I am fighting to send the money back to where it belongs: the hands of American families.”
Iowa led the brief and was joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Read the amicus brief opposing the Google settlement here.
Wawa Settlement
The Wawa settlement resolves a class-action lawsuit brought forward by Americans who were exposed in Wawa’s 2019 data breach. While attorneys are paid $3.2 million from the settlement, affected Americans receive a mere $2.9 million, mostly in the form of $5 Wawa coupons. This settlement is the second attempt to resolve the lawsuit after the first was rejected for being unfair.
“While this settlement bankrolls the attorneys, it scrapes the bottom of the barrel for American families,” said AG Bird. “There is no reason why attorneys should be getting paid more than the Americans who had been hurt by Wawa’s data breach. Americans get coupons while the attorneys fill their own pockets with cash. If this is such a great deal for the families, I ask the attorneys why they deserve to be paid more than the Americans who had been harmed — and why they aren’t also being paid with Wawa coupons. American families deserve their fair share.”
Iowa led the brief and was joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia. Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Read the amicus brief opposing the Wawa settlement here.
