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calendar   Friday - January 11, 2008

A Kiss On The Hand May be Very Sentimental, but Lawyers Are a Guys Best Friend

Class Action Lawsuit Against De Beers: $295,000,000 Settlement

DeBeers diamond cartel agrees to $295 million settlement in anti-trust price-fixing class action lawsuit. If you bought a diamond from a retailer it actually came through De Beers. If you bought one between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006, you are eligible for a refund if you sign up for the settlement. Maximum payout will be about $640.

I know I’m eligible. I think I’ll sign up.  The diamond cartel has been artificially inflating prices for over a century.

Diamonds are said to be a girl’s best friend. Now, that friend is potentially worth a substantial amount of money back as a result of a multimillion-dollar settlement with diamond behemoth De Beers.

The company that controls a huge share of the rough diamond market has agreed to pay nearly $300 million in a price-fixing dispute.

Customers who bought finished diamonds might be able to get hundreds of dollars back.

De Beers, one of the largest diamond suppliers in the world, has agreed to give Americans money back as a result from a class action lawsuit against the company alleging antitrust violations.

John Maher, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said the diamond leader violated the law.

“They controlled and monopolized the sale of rough diamonds and as a result merchants paid more than they should have for those stones,” he said.

De Beers has not admitted to doing anything wrong in the $295 million settlement. An earmark of $135.4 million has been made for consumers who file a claim.

According to the claims administrator, a consumer who purchased a $2,000 engagement ring would be entitled to a maximum of $640 back.

Here are some facts:

Several class-action lawsuits were filed asking for money damages on behalf of diamond purchasers. The lawsuits also asked that the defendants stop certain business conduct. The lawsuits claim that the largest suppliers of diamonds in the world—De Beers S.A. and its associated companies—violated antitrust, unfair competition, and consumer-protection laws by monopolizing diamond supplies, conspiring to fix, raise, and control diamond prices, and disseminating false and misleading advertising. De Beers and the other companies deny they violated the law or did anything wrong. They also say that because they do not do business in the United States, the courts in the United States do not have authority over them.

The courts where the lawsuits were filed have not made any determinations regarding whether the Defendants have done anything wrong. If the lawsuits are settled, the Court will not rule on any of Plaintiffs’ claims or on Defendants’ defenses to those claims, and the lawsuits will be dismissed. This means the Class Members may not sue any Defendant ever again about any past, present or future claims based on or related to the conduct covered by the lawsuits.

So what we have here is a zillion dollar cartel throwing a few pennies to the crowd to make this problem go away. Yeah, $300 million really is just chump change to De Beers.

News article here

FAQs and background info here.

Sign up online here, but please read the other info first.

Wow, some group of lawyers just got very rich!!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 01/11/2008 at 10:06 PM   
Filed Under: • AfricaFun-StuffJudges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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