Your financial institution may have issued payment cards identified in one of the alerts (or a similar document) sent out by the Visa or MasterCard related to the Data Breach.

The Court authorized this notice because you have a right to know about your financial institution’s rights under a proposed class action settlement before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, and after objections and appeals are resolved, a Settlement Administrator appointed by the Court will make the cash payments that the Settlement allows.

This package explains the lawsuit, Settlement, your financial institution’s rights, what benefits are available, who is eligible for them, and how to get them.

The Court in charge of the case is the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, and the case is known as Village Bank v. Caribou Coffee Co., Inc. et al, No. 0:19-cv-01640. The financial institution that sued is called the “Plaintiff,” and the companies it sued, Caribou Coffee Company, Inc., Bruegger’s Enterprises, Inc., Einstein & Noah Corp., and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (collectively “Caribou”) are the “Defendants.”

The lawsuit, Village Bank v. Caribou Coffee Co., Inc. et al, No. 0:19-cv-01640 (D. Minn.), alleges that Caribou is legally responsible for the Data Breach and asserts claims for negligence and violation of Minn. Stat. § 325E.64, the Minnesota Plastic Card Security Act, as well as seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The financial institution seeks to recover damages in the lawsuit for the expense of payment card reissuance, amounts paid to cover fraudulent payment card charges, and other costs allegedly incurred as a result of the Data Breach. Caribou denies any wrongdoing.

In a class action, one or more entities called “class representatives” sue on behalf of themselves and other entities with similar claims. All of these entities together are the “class” or “class members.” One court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the settlement class.

The Court has not decided in favor of Plaintiff or Caribou. Instead, both sides, with the assistance of a mediator, agreed to the Settlement. The Settlement is not an admission that Caribou did something wrong, but rather a compromise to end the lawsuit. By agreeing to settle, both sides avoid the costs, risks, and uncertainties of a trial and related appeals, while providing benefits to members of the Settlement Class. The Settlement Class Representative and the attorneys for the Settlement Class think the Settlement is best for all class members.

If your financial institution is a Settlement Class Member and does nothing, it will remain a part of the Settlement Class, but will not get any payments from the Settlement. And, unless your financial institution excludes itself, it will not be able to sue Caribou about the claims being resolved through this Settlement ever again. See the Settlement Agreement for more details about the releases.

Your financial institution is a member of the Settlement Class and affected by the Settlement if:

• It is a financial institution, bank, credit union, or other entity in the United States (including its Territories and the District of Columbia); and
• It issued Visa- and/or MasterCard-branded payment cards (including debit or credit cards) that were affected by the Data Breach and/or part of initial and/or final alerts from Visa or MasterCard related to the Data Breach alerts from Visa US-2018-0449 series (e.g., US-2018-0449a-PA, US-2018-0449b-PA, US-2018-0449c-PA, US-2018-0449d-IC, and US-2018-0449e-IC) or MasterCard ADC006148-US-18 series (e.g., ADC006148- US-18-1, ADC006148-US-18-2, and ADC006148-US-18-3).

Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class is the judge presiding over this matter and any members of her judicial staff, Caribou, and persons who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class.

If your financial institution excludes itself from the Settlement, it is no longer part of the Settlement Class and will no longer be eligible to receive any of the Settlement benefits. This process of excluding your financial institution is also referred to as “opting out” of the Settlement.

If you are still not sure whether your financial institution is included, you can ask for free help. You can call 1-844-905- 2994 or email us at info@CaribouIssuingBankSettlement.com for more information. Or you can fill out and return the Claim Form available here, to see if you qualify.

Caribou has agreed to pay into a non-reversionary Settlement Fund the amount of $5,816,250.00 to be used to pay claims of Settlement Class Members, all attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses, and other expenditures approved by the Court. This payment will be made into a Distribution Fund escrow account out of which the Settlement Administrator will pay eligible Settlement Class Members. A Settlement Class Member who submits a valid claim will receive a pro-rata portion of the funds remaining in the Settlement Fund after payment of all attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses approved by the Court, Costs of Settlement Administration, taxes, and any Service Award approved by the Court for the Plaintiff. In addition, Caribou has agreed to certain non-monetary injunctive relief related to payment card data security.

If your financial institution is eligible to participate in the Settlement and does not “opt out” of the Settlement, it may be eligible for benefits under the Settlement. If your financial institution issued any payment cards (including debit and credit cards) that were identified as having been at risk as a result of the Data Breach in an alert (or similar document) by Visa or MasterCard, it may be eligible for a payment from the Distribution Fund. Caribou has agreed to pay $5,816,250.00 into a Settlement Fund out of which the Settlement Administrator will make payments to eligible Settlement Class Members.

All Settlement Class Members who file a valid claim are eligible to receive a cash payment from the Settlement Fund per each payment card (including debit and credit cards) that was identified as having been at risk as a result of the Data Breach, an alert (or similar document) by Visa or MasterCard. You are not required to submit any documentation or evidence of your financial institution’s losses to receive a payment.

The amount of your institution’s payment will depend on the total number of cards claimed and the amount of attorney fees and other settlement expenses awarded by the Court. For example, if the total number of claimed-on cards from validated claims equals 1,000,000, and the total amount of the Settlement Fund, after all attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses approved by the Court, Costs of Settlement Administration, taxes, and any Service Award approved by the Court equals $4,000,000, then the Approved Claims will receive a Cash Payment Award of $4.00 per card. If, in this example, a Settlement Class Member submits an Approved Claim identifying 100 claimed-on cards, the Settlement Class Member’s Cash Payment Award would equal $400.00.

To qualify for a payment, you must validly complete and submit a Claim Form, which is included with the Notice. You may also get a PDF of a Claim Form here or obtain access to an online Claim Form here. All Settlement Class Members that wish to obtain compensation must complete and submit the Claim Form. No documentation of losses is required.

To properly complete and timely submit a Claim Form, you should read the instructions carefully, include all information required by the Claim Form, sign it, and either submit the signed Claim Form electronically here by December 22, 2020 or mail it to the Settlement Administrator postmarked no later than December 22, 2020 at the following address:

Caribou Financial Institution Data Breach Settlement
c/o Analytics LLC
P.O. Box 2005
Chanhassen, MN 55317-2005

The Settlement Administrator will review your claim to determine the amount of your financial institution’s payment.

The Court will hold a hearing on December 1, 2020 to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. It is always uncertain whether these appeals can be resolved and resolving them takes time, perhaps more than a year. Payments to Settlement Class Members will be made after the Settlement is finally approved and any appeals, or other required proceedings, have been completed, as set forth in the Settlement. You may visit the Settlement Status section of this website for updates on the progress of the Settlement.  Please be patient.

Unless you exclude your financial institution from the Settlement, your financial institution cannot sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against, Caribou or Defendant’s Released Persons (as defined in the Settlement) relating to the Data Breach. The specific claims your financial institution is giving up against Caribou are described in the Settlement.  The terms of the release are described in pages 29-32 of the Settlement Agreement. Read it carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available here.

If you have any questions, you can talk to the law firms listed here for free, or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If your financial institution wants to keep its rights to sue Caribou based on claims this Settlement resolves, your financial institution must take steps to exclude itself from the Settlement Class (see Information available here).

Instructions on how to exclude your financial institution from the Settlement, or “opt out,” are available here.

No. Unless you exclude your financial institution from the Settlement, your financial institution gives up any right to sue Caribou (as further detailed in the Settlement Agreement) for the claims that this Settlement resolves. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that case immediately. Your financial institution must exclude itself from this Settlement to continue its own lawsuit. Remember, the exclusion deadline is October 22, 2020.

No. If you exclude your financial institution, do not send in a Claim Form asking for a payment.

Yes. The Court appointed the following law firms to represent your financial institution and other members of the Settlement Class: Chestnut Cambronne PA in Minneapolis, MN. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

The law firms representing Plaintiff and the Settlement Class have not yet received any payment to compensate them for the time and expenses and financial risk that they undertook when they agreed to represent Plaintiff on a contingent basis, which means that they would receive a fee only if the lawsuit was successful. The lawyers intend to ask the Court to approve an award for: (i) the Costs of Settlement Administration, up to $50,000; (ii) reasonable attorneys’ fees in the amount of 25% of the Settlement Fund, plus costs and expenses; and (iii) a service award of $15,000 to the Settlement Class Representative for the efforts that it has expended on behalf of the Settlement Class.

The Court will determine whether to approve the amount of fees and expenses requested by Plaintiff’s lawyers and the proposed Service Award to the Settlement Class Representative at the Final Approval Hearing scheduled for December 1, 2020. Plaintiff’s lawyers will file an application for fees, costs, and expenses and a service award no later than October 1, 2020. The application will be available here or you can request a copy contacting the Settlement Administrator.

If your financial institution is a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the Settlement if you do not think it is fair, reasonable, or adequate. You can give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. The Court will consider your views. If you object to the Settlement and seek to exclude your financial institution, your financial institution will be deemed to have excluded itself and your objection will be deemed null and void.

Instructions on how to object to the Settlement are available here.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object to the benefits provided by the Settlement or other terms of the Settlement only if your financial institution stays in the Settlement Class. Excluding your financial institution or “opting-out” is telling the Court that you don’t want to be included in the Settlement Class. If your financial institution excludes itself, you have no basis to object to the Settlement and related releases because the Settlement no longer affects you.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on December 1, 2020, in Courtroom 12W before District Judge Joan N. Ericksen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, United States Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street Minneapolis, MN 55415. This hearing date and time may be moved. Please refer to the Settlement Status page for notice of any changes.

By no later than November 1, 2020, Class Counsel shall file a motion for final approval of the Settlement and by no later than October 1, 2020 Class Counsel shall file a motion for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and a service award. The deadline to file an objection and any response to Class Counsel’s motions is no later than October 22, 2020. By no later than November 24, 2020, responses shall be filed, if any, to any filings by objectors, and any replies in support of final approval of the Settlement and/or Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and a service award shall be filed.

At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider, among other things, whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate; how much Plaintiff’s lawyers will receive for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and whether to approve a service award to the Settlement Class Representative. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. The Court will listen to people at the hearing who file in advance a timely notice of their intention to appear (see instructions here).  At or after the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement and whether to grant Class Counsel’s motion for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and a service award. There is no deadline by which the Court must make its decision.

No. Class Counsel will answer questions the Court may have. You are welcome, however, to come at your own expense. If you submit an objection, you do not have to come to the Court to talk about it. As long as you submitted your objection timely and in accordance with the requirements for objecting, as outlined in the Settlement (see instructions here), the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it is not necessary.

If your financial institution is a Settlement Class Member and does nothing, it will remain a part of the Settlement Class, but will not get any payments from the Settlement. And, unless your financial institution excludes itself, it will not be able to sue Caribou about the claims being resolved through this Settlement ever again. See the Settlement Agreement for more details about the releases.

The Class Notice summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement itself. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement here or from the Settlement Administrator by calling toll-free 1-844-905-2994.