Daniel Stoffers v. Dave Inc.

The Court authorized the Notice to inform you about a proposed Settlement with Defendant. You have legal rights and options that you may act on before the Court decides whether to approve the proposed Settlement. You may be eligible to receive a cash payment as part of the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles is overseeing this class action. The case is called Stoffers v. Dave Inc. (Case No. 20STC35381) (the “Action”).

The person who filed the lawsuit, Daniel Stoffers, is the Plaintiff or Class Representative. The company he sued, Dave Inc., is the Defendant.

A class action is a lawsuit in which one or more plaintiffs—in this case, Dave Stoffers—sue on behalf of a group of people who have similar claims. Together, this group is called a “Class” and consists of “Class Members.” In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except those who exclude themselves from the class. After the parties reached an agreement to settle this case, the Court granted preliminary approval of the Settlement and recognized it as a case that should be treated as a class action for settlement purposes.

The Plaintiff claims that Defendant failed to implement and maintain reasonable security measures to protect customer PII in its possession, in order to prevent the Data Breach from occurring.

Defendant denies that it is or can be held liable for the claims made in the lawsuit. More information about the complaint in the lawsuit and Defendant’s responses can be found on the Important Documents page.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiff or Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to this Settlement. That way, they can avoid the uncertainty, risks, and expense of ongoing litigation, and Settlement Class Members will get compensation now rather than years later—if ever. The Class Representative and Class Counsel, attorneys for the Settlement Class Members agree the Settlement is in the best interests of the Settlement Class Members. The Settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the Defendant.

You are part of the Settlement as a Settlement Class Member if you had a California address on file in Defendant’s business records at the time of the Data Breach and your PII was subjected to the Data Breach. Eligible Settlement Class Members will have been emailed or mailed notice of their eligibility (including from donotreply@databreachsettlementdaveinc.com) and Settlement Class membership will be verified against that list. Not all Dave users are Settlement Class Members.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can contact the Settlement Administrator by calling 1(866) 875-6779, by emailing info@databreachsettlementdaveinc.com, by visiting the website www.DataBreachSettlementDaveInc.com.

This Settlement Class does not include (a) any Judge assigned to this Action and members of their immediate families; (b) Defendant, Defendant’s subsidiaries, parent companies, successors, predecessors, and any entity in which Defendant has a controlling interest, and any of their current or former officers, directors, employees, representatives, managers, members, and any other person acting for or on behalf of Defendant; (c) persons who properly execute and file a timely request for exclusion from the Settlement Class; (d) persons who have been separately represented by counsel for matters of, and have settled and released claims related to the Data Breach with Defendant.

This Settlement provides eligible Settlement Class Members with (1) a cash payment of up to seventy-five dollars ($75.00) not to exceed seven hundred and fifty dollars ($750.00) if funds remain, and (2) reimbursement of certain Out-of-Pocket Losses, including reimbursement for time spent remedying identity theft or other issues related to the Data Breach such as misuse of personal information, credit monitoring, freezing credit reports.

6.A. Who May Receive a Cash Payment and for How Much?

• If you are a Settlement Class Member and you claim that the California Consumer Privacy Act was violated as to you, you will be eligible for a payment of up to seventy- five dollars ($75.00) under Tier One of the Settlement Agreement (“Statutory Claim” or “Tier One Claim”). Only Settlement Class Members whose encrypted social security number and/or hashed password were exposed in the Data Breach, as confirmed by Defendant’s business records, will be eligible to submit a Statutory Claim. Settlement Class Members will know whether they may seek a Statutory Claim by the Claim Form that is made available to them through the Settlement Website. Not all Settlement Class Members will be eligible for a Statutory Claim. The aggregate payments to the Settlement Class from this Tier One will be capped at a maximum of one million dollars ($1,000,000.00), such that verified claims may be increased on a pro rata basis (up to a maximum of $750.00) or decreased on a pro rata basis depending on the total value of the verified Tier One Claims submitted and subject to the terms more fully described in the Settlement Agreement.
• For complete details, please see the Settlement Agreement, whose terms control, available on the Important Documents page. Claims will be subject to a verification process and will be denied if they do not meet the verification requirements. The Settlement Administrator will post additional information about the payment amount on this website if necessary.

6.B. Who May Recover for Out-of-Pocket Losses and for How Much?

• If you are a Settlement Class Member and you suffered Out-of-Pocket Losses because of the Data Breach and provide Reasonable Documentation of losses, you may be eligible for a payment of up to one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00) on a claims-made basis, but not more than the loss proven under Tier Two of the Settlement Agreement (“Tier Two Claim”). Out-of-Pocket Losses may include: (1) unreimbursed costs, expenses, losses, or charges incurred as a result of identity theft or identity fraud, falsified tax returns, or other possible misuse of a Class Member’s personal information; (2) costs incurred on or after June 23, 2020, associated with accessing or freezing/unfreezing credit reports with any credit reporting agency; (3) other miscellaneous expenses incurred related to any Out-of-Pocket Loss, such as notary, fax, postage, copying, mileage, and long-distance telephone charges; (4) credit monitoring or other mitigative costs that were incurred on or after June 23, 2020, through the date of the Settlement Class Member’s claim submission; and (5) Attested Time, which may include Out-of-Pocket Losses for up to 10 hours of time spent remedying identity theft or fraud, including misuse of personal information, credit monitoring or freezing credit reports, and/or other issues related to the Data Breach at twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per hour. To receive a payment for Attested Time, a Settlement Class Member must submit a brief description of (1) the action taken in response to the Data Breach; and (2) the time associated with each action. The aggregate payments to the Class from this tier will be capped at a maximum of one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($1,250,000.00), such that verified claims may be increased on a pro rata basis or decreased on a pro rata basis depending on the total value of the verified Tier Two Claims submitted and subject to the terms more fully described in the Settlement Agreement.
• For complete details, please see the Settlement Agreement, whose terms control, available on the Important Documents page. Claims will be subject to a verification process and will be denied if they do not meet the verification requirements. The Settlement Administrator will post additional information about the payment amount on this website, if necessary.

Maximum Settlement Contribution: Under this Settlement, the maximum total amount Defendant may be required to pay is three million two hundred thousand dollars ($3,200,000.00). This maximum includes the combined two million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,250,000.00) Defendant will transfer to the Settlement Administrator for the funding of the Tier One Fund and the Tier Two Fund (as described in the Settlement Agreement), attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses awarded by the Court to Class Counsel, any awarded class representative service award, and notice and administrative costs to provide the Settlement. In no event shall Defendant’s total financial obligation under this Settlement exceed three million two hundred thousand dollars ($3,200,000.00).

To qualify for a Settlement benefit, you must complete and submit a Claim Form.

Settlement Class Members who want to submit a Claim must fill out and submit a Claim Form online. Claim Forms are only available through this website.

Claims will be subject to a verification process. You will need the Unique ID provided with your notice to fill out a Claim Form. All Claim Forms must be received online no later than August 30, 2023.

The hearing to consider the fairness of the Settlement is scheduled for December 12, 2023. If the Court approves the Settlement, eligible Settlement Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator will be sent payment within approximately 45 days after all appeals and other reviews, if any, are completed. Please be patient. Eligible claims will be paid to Class Members electronically unless a Settlement Class Member chooses to receive payment by written check. All checks will expire and become void 90 days after they are issued.

Yes, the Court has appointed John A. Yanchunis Sr of Morgan & Morgan; Timothy G. Blood and Jennifer MacPherson of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon, LLP; and Abbas Kazerounian and Mona Amini of Kazerouni Law Group, APC, as “Class Counsel.”

Should I get my own lawyer?

You don’t need to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel are working on your behalf. These lawyers and their firms are experienced in handling similar cases. You will not be charged for these lawyers. You can ask your own lawyer to appear in Court for you if you want someone other than Class Counsel to represent you.

Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses that will be paid by or on behalf of Defendant. Class Counsel will not seek more than seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000.00) in attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses. Class Counsel will also request a Service Award of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for the Class Representative. The Court will determine the proper amount of any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses to award Class Counsel and the proper amount of any service award to the Class Representative. The Court may award less than the amounts requested.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be able to sue the Defendant about the issues in this case, and you will be bound by all decisions made by the Court in this case, the Settlement, and its included Release. This is true regardless of whether you submit a Claim Form. You can read the Settlement Agreement on the Important Documents page. However, you may exclude yourself from the Settlement (see Question 14). If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be bound by any of the Released Claims.

“Released Claims” means any and all claims, demands, rights, or causes of action of any type or nature whether legal, equitable, statutory, based on the common law, or otherwise, whether individual, class, direct, representative or otherwise, for damages, losses, penalties, attorney’s fees, or any other type of remedy or relief be it monetary or injunctive, existing or potential, accrued or unaccrued, suspected or unsuspected that were asserted or could have been asserted against the Released Parties in any forum based on the facts alleged in the Operative Complaint.

If you do nothing, you will receive no payment under the Settlement for any losses incurred as a result of the Data Breach. You will be in the Settlement Class, and if the Court approves the Settlement, you will also be bound by all orders and judgments of the Court, the Settlement, and its included Release. You will be deemed to have participated in the Settlement and will be subject to the provisions of Section 11 above. Unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to file a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendant for the claims or legal issues resolved in this Settlement.

If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will receive no benefits or payment under the Settlement. However, you will not be in the Settlement Class and will not be legally bound by the Court’s judgments related to the Settlement Class and Defendant in this class action.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement even if you do nothing.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for a payment.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you can object to the Settlement if you do not agree with any part of it. Objections must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator at the following address and be postmarked no later than August 5, 2023:

Dave, Inc. Data Breach Settlement Administrator
Attn: Objections
P.O. Box 58220
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Your objection must be personally signed by you and include the following information: (1) your name, address, and telephone number; (2) the case name and number, which is Stoffers v. Dave Inc. (Case No. 20STC35381); (3) all grounds for your objection; (4) the name and contact information for any attorney representing you with respect to the objection; (5) whether you or your attorney plan to attend the final approval hearing to speak about the objection.

Notwithstanding, the Court will hear from any Class Member who attends the final approval hearing and asks to speak regarding his or her objection.

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t 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 don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on December 12, 2023, at the Spring Street Courthouse, 312 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, Department 9. 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.

Note: The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing are subject to change by Court Order. Any changes will be posted on this website or through the Court’s publicly available docket. You should check the Settlement Website to confirm the date and time have not been changed.

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 don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as your written objection was submitted on time and meets the other criteria described in the Settlement, the Court will consider it. However, you may appear on your behalf or pay a lawyer to attend on your behalf to assert your objection if you would like.

Yes. If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you may speak at the Final Approval Hearing concerning any part of the proposed Settlement.

The Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement, which is available on the Important Documents page.

Call 1(866) 875-6779 or email info@databreachsettlementdaveinc.com or write to Dave, Inc. Settlement Administrator, 1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210, Philadelphia, PA 19102.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE COURT, THE CLERK OF THE COURT, THE JUDGE, OR THE DEFENDANT WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT OR CLAIMS PROCESS.