Stossel on Class Action Abuse

In addition to solving a minor mystery from my childhood, John Stossel's latest column reveals something I did not know about class action lawsuits:

Image by Evan Parker, via Wikipedia, license.

When Google was caught sleazily collecting location data from users who turned off location history, it wouldn't have been worth any single user's time, or money, to sue. A lawsuit would cost more than anyone might win. Hence class actions.

But the lawyers create their own scam. When Google paid $62 million to settle that lawsuit, the class action lawyers gave themselves $18 million and then gave $43 million to their favorite nonprofits. That included left wing advocacy groups like the ACLU (after it promised to use the money to help "people of color," "activists" and "people seeking ... transgender healthcare"). They gave victimized class members nothing. [bold added]

Stossel opened with what most readers will find more typical: A couple of small checks he got as settlements for class action lawsuits here and there.

I am pretty sure my general impression of this was typical: That the lawyers who won such suits made lots of money, but that members of the aggrieved class at least got something.

I had no idea that these things sometimes (often? almost always?) end up simply being a way for lefties to shake down large industries while also not even awarding even nominal damages to the people who are owed compensation.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Small checks are understandable, and even if it weren't too easy to sue, there would be some products -- like the three-wheeled ATVs I remember from childhood -- that would vanish from the market. But simply transferring large sums of money to third parties? Even in today's cloud cuckoo land, I am amazed that this is even legal.

I am grateful that John Stossel has increased the public's awareness of this abuse. Knowing about a problem is the first step towards solving it.

-- CAV