LIQUID ALUMINUM SULFATE AND PAYMENT CARD SETTLEMENT PORTAL

LIQUID ALUMINUM SULFATE ANTITRUST LITIGATION

This lawsuit alleges that the leading manufacturers of liquid aluminum sulfate, commonly referred to as “alum,” conspired to allocate territories and/or not to compete for each other’s historical business by rigging bids, allocating customers and fixing/ stabilizing/ maintaining the price of Alum sold in the United States from January 1, 1997 through February 28, 2011 in violation of federal antitrust laws.

Liquid aluminum sulfate, Alum, is a chemical used by municipalities and industries for a variety of purposes including:  Treating drinking and waste water, controlling algae in lakes and ponds, manufacturing paper and fixing dies to textiles. 

DIRECT PURCHASER SETTLEMENT

For those that purchased directly from the defendants, listed below, the current settlement fund is $96,196,800 but could reach a maximum of $113,977,400 if certain stipulations are reached.  More funds are expected if and when additional defendants settle. 

Your agency or company is likely eligible if you purchased Alum in the United States directly from a defendant between January 1, 1997 and February 28, 2011.  The current defendant companies that have settled are:

  • Kemira
  • GEO
  • SH
  • Chemtrade
  • USALCO
  • American Securities, Inc.

Remaining defendants include: General Chemical Corporation, General Chemical Performance Products, LLC, General Chemical LLC, C&S Chemicals, Inc., Southern Ionics, Inc., Frank A. Reichl, Brian C. Steppig, Vincent J. Opalewski, Alex Avraamides, Amita Gupta, Kenneth A. Ghazey, and Milton Sundbeck.

The direct purchaser settlement fund deadline is June 13, 2019. 

INDIRECT PURCHASER SETTLEMENT

Your agency or company is likely eligible for a refund if it purchased Alum from a distributor or direct purchaser, which was manufactured, sold or supplied by a defendant or unnamed co-conspirator between January 1, 1997 through February 28, 2011 for their own use and not for resale in the following states:  Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The current settlement fund is $25,725,000 with more funds expected if and when additional defendants settle.  The current settling defendants for the indirect purchaser settlement include: 

  • GEO
  • Chemtrade
  • Southern Ionics
  • Kemira

Remaining defendants include:  General Chemical Corporation; General Chemical Performance Products, LLC; General Chemical LLC, GenTek Inc., American Securities, C&S Chemicals, Inc., USALCO, LLC, Frank A. Reichl, Vincent J. Opalewski, Alex Avraamides, Amita Gupta, Milton Sundbeck, Kenneth A. Ghazey, Brian C. Steppig, American Securities LLC, Matthew Lebaron, and Scott Wolff.

The proposed claim form for the indirect fund does not require our company to state which defendant manufactured the liquid aluminum sulfate, only the total dollar amount spent on liquid aluminum sulfate during the class period and the state where the purchase was billed and/or shipped to.  Although a claims process for indirect purchasers has recently been proposed, there is no deadline at the present time.

Payment Card Antitrust Litigation $5.54 Billion 

This settlement resolves allegations that VISA, MasterCard and their issuing banks violated the law by charging excessive interchange fees to merchants.  The settlement received final approval on December 13, 2019 and the settlement fund is approximately $5.54 billion.  Your organization is likely eligible for a refund if you accepted VISA or MasterCard branded credit or debit cards as a form of payment between January 1, 2004 – January 25, 2019.

Claim forms are available beginning December 1, 2023, when they will be delivered and available online. Class members need not sign up for a third-party service in order to participate in any monetary relief. No-cost assistance is available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period. Class members may visit www.paymentcardsettlement.com, the Court-approved website for this case for additional information. The claim filing deadline is May 31, 2024.