Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC

The purpose of this website is to let you know that a proposed settlement has been reached in the above class action lawsuit. You have legal rights and options that you may act on before the Court decides whether to approve the proposed settlement. Because your legal rights will be affected by this settlement, it is extremely important that you read this website carefully. This website summarizes the settlement and your legal rights under it.

In a class action, one or more people, called class representatives, sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All of these people are a class, or class members. One court resolves the issues for all class members, except those who exclude themselves from the class. Here, the class representative alleges that Clover violated the TCPA by sending more than one text message selling Clover’s or its customers’ products and services to cellular telephone numbers registered on the National Do Not Call Registry at a time when the individuals did not have a prior established business relationship with Clover or its customers from July 1, 2018 to November 30, 2023. The Court has certified a class for settlement purposes only (the “Settlement Class”). The Honorable Judge Angelo J. Kappas of the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for DuPage County, Illinois (the “Court”) oversees this class action. Clover denies that it did anything wrong and denies that this lawsuit should be certified as a class action in litigation. The Court has not decided who is correct.

The Court did not decide in favor of Plaintiff or Clover on Clover’s liability under the TCPA. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement of the legal claims in the complaint to avoid the cost of a trial, the risk and uncertainty of proceeding forward in the lawsuit, and to provide compensation for Settlement Class Members. The class representative and Class Counsel believe that the settlement is in the best interests of the Settlement Class.

You are in the “Settlement Class” if, while in the United States, you were sent more than one text message within any 12-month period from Clover selling its or its customers’ products and services between July 1, 2018 to November 30, 2023 when your telephone number had been listed on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least thirty days and you did not have a prior established business relationship with Clover or its customers. If you received notice regarding this via email or postcard it is because your number was texted by Clover on at least two occasions during that time period and therefore you may be a member of the Settlement Class. If you have questions about whether you are in the Settlement Class, you may call 1-888-814-3417 for more information.

Clover agrees to pay up to $15,000,000 to pay Settlement Class Members who submit a valid Claim Form, after any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses awarded to Class Counsel, and a service award to the class representative, have been deducted. Settlement Class Members who submit a timely claim will receive $60. If the amount of the Settlement Fund is insufficient to pay $60 to each Settlement Class Member who files a valid Claim Form, payments will be reduced and paid on a pro rata (a legal term meaning equal share) basis. In other words, your payment could decrease depending on the number of valid Claim Forms Settlement Class Members submit and the amount of the Settlement Fund available to pay claims. If, after all payments are processed, any money remains in the Settlement Fund, then the Settlement Administrator will return the remaining money in the Settlement Fund to Clover.

To qualify for payment, you must submit a valid Claim Form by April 29, 2024. There are multiple ways to submit a Claim Form. You may submit a Claim Form online by going to the Submit a Claim section of this website and following the directions found there. You may also submit a paper Claim Form by returning the double-sided proof of claim form that you received in the mail, or by requesting a paper Claim Form by calling the Settlement Administrator at 1-888-814-3417. Read the instructions on the Claim Form carefully, fill out the form, sign it, and submit it online or mail it postmarked no later than April 29, 2024.

The Court will hold a hearing on May 29, 2024 to decide whether to approve the settlement. If the settlement is approved, appeals may still follow. It is always uncertain whether these appeals can be resolved, and resolving them can take more than a year. No payments will be made until the Court approves the settlement at the hearing and all appeals are final. Please be patient.

Unless you exclude yourself, you are staying in the Settlement Class and you will remain a Settlement Class Member. That means you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against Clover regarding any text messages received from Clover during the Class Period, including, but not limited to, claims asserted in the lawsuit or arising out of the facts and circumstances asserted in the lawsuit. If the settlement is approved and becomes final and not subject to appeal, then you and all Settlement Class Members release all “Released Claims” against all “Released Parties.” It also means that all of the Court’s orders will apply to you and legally bind you. The Settlement Agreement describes the legal claims you are releasing (the “Released Claims”) and against whom you are releasing legal claims (“Released Parties”) in detail, so read it carefully. To summarize, the release includes, but is not limited to, TCPA claims arising out of or related to any text messages received from Clover during the Class Period.

If you do not want a payment from this settlement, but you want to keep the right to sue or continue to sue Clover, then you must take steps to remove yourself from the Settlement Class. This is called excluding yourself—or is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of the Settlement Class. To exclude yourself from the settlement, you must send a letter saying that you want to be excluded from the Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC, Case No. 2023CH000168 settlement. You must sign the letter and include a statement that you wish to be excluded from this action. Please be sure to include your name, address and telephone number and signature. You must mail your exclusion request postmarked no later than April 29, 2024 to the following address:

Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC
Exclusion Requests
P.O. Box 2692
Portland, OR 97208-2692

You cannot exclude yourself on the phone or by fax or email. If you ask to be excluded, you will not get any payment, and you cannot object to the settlement. You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit. Mass requests for exclusion are not allowed.

The Court has appointed Andrew Shamis and Garrett Berg of Shamis & Gentile, P.A. and Scott Edelsberg and Christopher Gold of Edelsberg Law, P.A. to represent you and other Settlement Class Members. These lawyers are called Class Counsel. You will not be personally charged by these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense. Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve payment of 22.5% of the settlement fund not to exceed $3,375,000. This payment will compensate Class Counsel for investigating the facts, litigating the lawsuit, and negotiating the settlement. Class Counsel also will request a service award of up to $5,000 for the named Plaintiff to compensate for the time and effort in pursuing this lawsuit on behalf of the Settlement Class. The Court may award less than these amounts.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you can object to the settlement if you do not like any part of it. You may give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. The Court will consider your views. To object, you must send a letter saying that you object to the Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC, Case No. 2023CH000168 settlement. You must make your objection in writing and file it with the Court. The written objection must contain information sufficient to allow the parties to confirm that you are a member of the Settlement Class, including:

1. Your full name, address, telephone number, and personal signature;
2. A statement of your specific objections, and a detailed statement of the factual and legal basis for such objections;
3. The identity of all witnesses, including the witness’s name and address, and a summary of such witness’s proposed testimony and documents that you would like the Court to consider;
4. The name and contact information of any attorney you intend to have assert your objections before the Court;
5. A statement identifying the number of class action settlements you objected to in the last three years, and listing those cases by case name and number; and
6. A statement whether you and your attorney(s) intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing. If your attorney intends to appear at the Final Approval Hearing they must enter a written Notice of Appearance of Counsel with the Clerk of the Court no later than the date set by the Court in its Preliminary Approval Order and include the full caption and case number of each previous class action case in which such counsel has represented an objector. If you are represented by counsel and your counsel intends to speak at the Final Approval Hearing, the written objection must include a detailed statement of the specific legal and factual basis for each and every objection and a detailed description of any and all evidence you may offer at the Final Approval Hearing, including copies of any and all exhibits that you may introduce at the Final Approval Hearing.

You must file the objection with the Court no later than April 29, 2024.

Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC
Case No. 2023CH000168
Office of the Circuit Court Clerk
505 N. County Farm Road
Wheaton, Illinois 60187-0707

Also, you must send your objection to the Settlement Administrator postmarked no later than April 29, 2024, at the following address:

Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 2692
Portland, OR 97208-2692

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you do not like something about the settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself from the Settlement Class is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the lawsuit no longer affects you.

The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on May 29, 2024, before Judge Angelo J. Kappas at 505 N. County Farm Road, Room 2015, Wheaton, IL 60187. The purpose of the hearing is for the Court to determine whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. At the hearing, the Court will hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the proposed settlement, including those related to the amount requested by Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses, and the service award to the class representative. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. It is unknown how long these decisions will take.

Note: The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing is subject to change by Court Order. Any changes will be posted on the Home Page of this website.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. But you are welcome to attend the hearing at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to attend the hearing to talk about it. As long as your written objection was filed by the deadline, and meets the other criteria described above and in the Settlement Agreement, the Court will consider it. You may also pay a lawyer to attend, but you do not have to. If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you may ask the Court for permission to speak at the hearing concerning any part of the proposed Settlement Agreement. If you filed an objection and intend to appear at the hearing, you must state your intention to do so in your objection. To speak, you must state that in your objection. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, that you are a Class Member, and your signature. You cannot speak at the hearing if you exclude yourself.

If you do nothing, you will get no money from this settlement. Unless you exclude yourself, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Clover about the legal issues released in this lawsuit.

This website summarizes the proposed settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You may review the Settlement Agreement on the Important Documents page of this website. You can also get a copy of the Settlement Agreement by writing to Class Counsel. You can call 1-888-814-3417 toll free or write to Bobo v. Clover Network, LLC Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 2692, Portland, OR 97208-2692 for additional information.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT, THE JUDGE, OR CLOVER NETWORK WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT OR CLAIMS PROCESS.