Contact Lens Class Action Lawsuit Settles For $75 Million: Get Your Share

Quick Summary of the Disposable Contacts Antitrust Litigation

Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. (“JJVCI”) and Alcon Vision, LLC (“Alcon”) have agreed to a $75 Million contact lens class action settlement for a lawsuit that emerged after the manufacturers adopted some minimum retail price policies in June 2013 with regard to the distribution and sale of certain contact lenses. These policies were referred to as the “Unilateral Pricing Policies” (UPP) by the Defendants, and the class action lawsuit alleges the companies used the UPPs to restrain competition from discount and online stores on consumer prices in the retail market for disposable contact lenses.

Are you an eligible Class Member?

Eligible Class Members include all persons and entities residing in the United States who made retail purchases of disposable contact lenses manufactured by Alcon, JJVCI, CVI, or B&L during the Settlement Class Period (June 1, 2013 through December 4, 2018) for their own use and not for resale, where the prices of such contact lenses were subject to a “Unilateral Pricing Policy” and the purchase occurred during the period when the Unilateral Pricing Policy was in effect.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are all purchases of l-800 Contacts disposable contact lenses subject to B&L’s Unilateral Pricing Policy when the purchase occurred on or after July 1, 2015. Also excluded from the Settlement Class are Defendants, their parents, subsidiaries and affiliates, any alleged co-conspirators, all governmental entities, and any judge or magistrate assigned to hear any aspect of this action.

Products included in the Settlement

The contact lenses purchased include the following list:

• Air Optix Colors
• Dailies AquaComfort Plus Multifocal
• Dailies AquaComfort Plus Toric
• Dailies Total 1
• Dailies Total 1 Multifocal
• 1-Day Acuvue Define
• 1-Day Acuvue Moist
• 1-Day Acuvue Moist for Astigmatism
• 1-Day Acuvue Moist Multifocal
• 1-Day Acuvue TruEye
• Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism
• Acuvue Oasys for Presbyopia
• Acuvue Oasys with Hydraclear
• Acuvue Oasys with Hydraluxe (aka 1-Day Acuvue Oasys)

You can find more specific dates for purchases of each product as well as the pricing on the Settlement Website.

You may be eligible to receive cash and rebates.

What does the Alcon & JJVCI Settlement Class Action Settlement provide?

Alcon Laboratories is contributing $20 million to the Settlement Fund, while Johnson & Johnson is contributing the remaining $55 million, totalling the $75 million. Class members can recover a cash payment for purchases of disposable contact lenses. Each consumer will be eligible to receive their own proportional share based on how many times they shopped during the Class Period in question.

How much money can you get?

The exact amount to be received is still unknown, considering that from the $75 Million Settlement Fund, the Court has to approve motions to pay lawyers and other fees involved in the class action settlement distribution and administration, leaving the remaining amount to be distributed pro-rata (equal amounts to each Class Member). If your submitted Claim Form is timely and valid, you will receive an email notice with options on how you would like to receive the payout. No response to this email will automatically set your payment method to mailed check to the address provided in the Form.

Who is the claims administrator?

Disposable Contacts Antitrust Litigation
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 2995
Portland, OR 97208-2995
1-877-253-3649 (Toll-Free)
[email protected]

Who are the lawyers representing the Class Counsel?

The Court appointed the law firms of Hausfeld LLP, Scott+Scott, Attorneys at Law LLP, and Robins Kaplan LLP as Lead Counsel.

Nathaniel C. Giddings
HAUSFELD LLP
888 16th Street, N.W.; Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
Mail: [email protected]

Joseph P. Guglielmo
SCOTT+SCOTT / ATTORNEYS AT LAW LLP
The Helmsley Building
230 Park Avenue, 17th Floor
New York, New York 10169
Mail: [email protected]

Benjamin Steinberg
ROBINS KAPLAN LLP
399 Park Avenue, Suite 3600
New York, NY 10022
Mail: [email protected]

When is the Fairness Hearing?

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at the United States Courthouse, Courtroom 10C, 300 North Hogan Street, Jacksonville, Florida.

Are you qualified? Submit your claim!

To receive compensation, you do not need to provide any proof. However, a valid claim form must be submitted before August 22, 2022, or printed out and mailed to the Claims Administrator address.