Walker v. Highmark Health Options

A federal court authorized the Notice and this website because you have the right to know about the proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your rights and options before the Court decides whether to grant final approval of the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who is eligible for the benefits, and how to get them.

The Honorable Christy Criswell Wiegand of the United States District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania is overseeing this class action known as Walker v. Highmark BCBSD Health Options Inc.; Cotiviti, Inc., Case No. 20-cv-1975 (the “Action”). The people who filed this lawsuit are called the “Plaintiffs” or “Class Representatives” and the companies they sued, Highmark BCBSD Health Options Inc. (“Highmark Health Options”) and Cotiviti, Inc. (“Cotiviti”) are collectively known as the “Defendants.”

The Plaintiffs allege violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) arising from certain calls made and sent by, or on behalf of, Highmark Health Options. The TCPA is a federal law that restricts the use of pre-recorded telephone calls. The Plaintiffs allege that Highmark Health Options violated the TCPA by placing, through its vendor Cotiviti, pre-recorded/artificial voice telephone calls to individuals without their consent.

The Defendants deny any wrongdoing, and no court or other entity has made any judgment or other determination of any wrongdoing, or that any law has been violated. The Defendants deny these and all other claims made in the litigation. By entering the Settlement, the Defendants are not admitting any wrongdoing.

In a class action, Class Representatives sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. Together, all these people are called a Settlement Class or Settlement Class Members. One court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those Settlement Class Members who timely exclude themselves (opt out) from the Settlement Class. The Class Representatives in this case are Plaintiffs Christopher Walker, Kim Sterling, and Ernie Fisher.

Plaintiffs and the Defendants do not agree about the claims made in this litigation. The litigation has not gone to trial, and the Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiffs or the Defendants. Instead, the Plaintiffs and the Defendants have agreed to settle the litigation. The Plaintiffs and the attorneys for the Settlement Class (“Class Counsel”) believe the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members because of the Settlement benefits and the risks and uncertainty associated with continued litigation and the nature of the defenses raised by the Defendants.

You are a Settlement Class Member if you were the subscriber or primary user of a cellular telephone number that received pre-recorded/artificial voice calls from or on behalf of Defendant Highmark Health Options Inc. You are a Settlement Class Member if your cellular telephone number (or a cellular telephone number currently or previously associated with you) has been identified as meeting the following definition:

1. During the Class Period (November 30, 2016, through December 13, 2022), all persons within the United States who are subscribers or primary users of a cellular telephone number to which Defendant Highmark BCBSD Health Options Inc. placed (or had placed on its behalf by Defendant Cotiviti, Inc.) a telephone call using a pre-recorded or artificial voice,
   1. when such a call to that cellular telephone number had previously resulted in (a) a “WRONG_NUMBER” disposition or (b) a “MSG_DECLINED” disposition without a subsequent disposition of “CORRECT_PERSON” or “MSG_HUMAN” and
   2. when at least one subsequent call to that cellular telephone number had the disposition “WRONG_NUMBER”, “MSG_MACHINE”, “CORRECT_PERSON”, “MSG_HUMAN”, “HANGUP”, “NO_CONTINUE”, or “MSG_DECLINED”.

This means you are a Settlement Class Member if from November 30, 2016, through December 13, 2022 a call with a pre-recorded message was made by the Defendants to your cellular telephone number and this call was answered, and a previous call possibly indicated or should have indicated a wrong number was reached, and possibly there was no subsequent notation that the correct number was reached.

You do not need to know if calls placed to you actually resulted in one of the dispositions listed above. If you have received a Notice, your cellular telephone number (or a cellular telephone number currently or previously associated with you) has already been identified as qualifying.

Yes. Excluded from the Settlement Class are those persons who only received calls as part of a COVID Campaign, as well as Defendants and any entities in which Defendants have a controlling interest; Defendants’ agents and employees; any Judge and Magistrate Judge to whom this action is assigned and any member of their staffs and immediate families.

If you are still not sure whether you are a Settlement Class Member, you may call the Claims Administrator’s toll-free number at 1-800-944-1017.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and submit a valid and timely claim, you may be eligible to receive a Cash Award. The Defendants have agreed to pay or cause to be paid $1,850,000 to create a “Settlement Fund.” The Settlement Fund will be used to pay approved Claims and all Settlement Costs (any incentive payment to the Class Representatives, any awarded attorneys’ fees and costs, and any costs associated with the administration of this settlement).

Your Cash Award will be a pro rata (meaning proportional) share of all Eligible Calls claimed during the Claims Period. An Eligible Call is a pre-recorded call made after a disposition in Defendants’ records identified in (A)(1) of the Settlement Class definition (see question 5).

What this means is that your Cash Award, if any, will be determined by the following formula: (Settlement Fund – Settlement Costs) ÷ (Total Number of Calls Made to Settlement Class Members who submit a claim) = Cash Award Per Call. This is subject to possible adjustments if multiple persons make a claim for the same unique cellular telephone number.

For example, if there is $1,000,000 in the Settlement Fund after Settlement Costs, and there are 1,000 Settlement Class Members who make valid and timely claims, whose combined total number of Eligible Calls is 20,000, the pro rata share would be $50 per Call (i.e. $1,000,000 ÷ 20,000).

In this example, someone who received 20 Eligible Calls would receive $1,000. This example is for illustrative purposes only. Your Cash Award, if any, may be significantly more or significantly less than the above.

If multiple people make a claim for the same unique cellular telephone number, the Claims Administrator will contact each person who submitted a claim to obtain the approximate month and year of when each person was the subscriber or primary user of the cellular telephone number to determine the payment to the Settlement Class Members.

Settlement Class Members seeking a Cash Award must complete and submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator by March 27, 2023. Claim Forms can be submitted online here or by mail. If by mail, the Claim Form must be postmarked by March 27, 2023.

You should file a single Claim Form for each unique cellular telephone number on which you received telephone calls, regardless of the number of times you were called on a particular cell number.

Unless you exclude yourself (opt out), you are choosing to remain in the Settlement Class. If the Settlement is approved and becomes final, all Court orders will apply to you and legally bind you. You will not be able to sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants and Released Parties about the legal issues in this litigation that are released by this Settlement. The specific rights you are giving up are called “Released Claims.”

The Settlement Agreement in Section XII describes the Release of Claims, in necessary legal terminology, so please read this section carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available here or in the public Court records on file in this lawsuit. For questions regarding the Released Parties or Released Claims and what the language in the Settlement Agreement means, you can also contact Class Counsel listed in Question 15 for free, or you can talk to your own lawyer at your own expense. You should not contact Defendants directly with questions about the settlement.

To submit a claim for a Cash Award you must timely submit a valid Claim Form. Settlement Class Members seeking benefits under the Settlement must complete and submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator, postmarked or submitted online on or before March 27, 2023. Claim Forms may be submitted online here or printed from the Settlement Website and mailed to the Claims Administrator at the address on the Form. The quickest way to submit a claim is online. Paper Claim Forms are also available by calling 1-800-944-1017 or by writing to:

Walker v. Highmark Health Options Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 3937
Portland, OR 97208-3937

If you change your mailing address or email address after you submit a Claim Form, it is your responsibility to inform the Claims Administrator of your updated information. You may notify the Claims Administrator of any changes by calling 1-800-944-1017 or by writing to:

Walker v. Highmark Health Options Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 3937
Portland, OR 97208-3937

If you file a timely and valid Claim Form, payment will be provided by the Claims Administrator after the Settlement is approved by the Court and becomes final.

It may take time for the Settlement to be approved and become final. Please be patient and check this website for updates.

Yes, the Court has appointed Jeremy M. Glapion of The Glapion Law Firm, LLC as Class Counsel to represent you and the Settlement Class for the purposes of this Settlement. You may hire your own lawyer at your own cost and expense if you want someone other than Class Counsel to represent you in this Litigation.

Class Counsel will file a motion asking the Court to award attorneys’ fees and costs not to exceed 1/3 of the Settlement Fund, plus Class Counsel’s actual expenses. They will also ask the Court to approve an incentive payment, not to exceed $10,000, to Plaintiff Walker, and incentive payments not to exceed $2,500 to Plaintiffs Sterling and Fisher for their involvement in this litigation and for their efforts in achieving the Settlement. If awarded by the Court, attorneys’ fees and costs and the incentive awards will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. The Court may award less than these amounts.

Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards will be made available on this settlement website before the deadline for you to comment or object to the Settlement.

To opt out of the Settlement, you must mail a written notice to the Claims Administrator of your intent to opt out. The written notice must be signed, include your full name, address, telephone number, and the cellular telephone number(s) called by Defendants and clearly state that you wish to be excluded from the Settlement Class.

The opt out request must be postmarked and sent to the Claims Administrator at the following address by March 10, 2023:

Walker v. Highmark Health Options Claims Administrator
Exclusions
P.O. Box 3937
Portland, OR 97208-3937

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by email.

No. If you opt out, you are telling the Court you do not want to be part of the Settlement. You can only get Settlement benefits if you stay in the Settlement.

No. Unless you opt out, you give up any right to sue the Defendants and Released Parties for the claims this Settlement resolves and Releases relating to the alleged violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. You must opt out of this litigation to start or continue with your own lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants, or any of the Released Parties. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that case immediately.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can tell the Court you do not agree with all or any part of the Settlement or requested attorneys’ fees and costs. You can also give reasons why you think the Court should not approve the Settlement or attorneys’ fees and costs. To object, you must file timely written notice with the Court as provided below no later than March 10, 2023, stating you object to the Settlement. The objection must include all the following additional information:

1. Your full name, address and telephone number;
2. The cellular telephone number(s) called by Defendants (if different);
3. The reasons for your objection;
4. The name of counsel for the objection (if any);
5. Information about other objections you or your counsel have made in other class action cases in the last four (4) years; and
6. Whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing on your own behalf or through counsel. Any documents supporting the objection must also be attached to the objection.

Your objection must be submitted to the Court either by filing it with the Court or by mailing it via U.S. Mail to the Court so that it is received by March 10, 2023, to the following address:

Clerk of Court
United States District Court
Western District of Pennsylvania
700 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Objecting is simply telling the Court you do not like something about the Settlement or requested attorneys’ fees and costs. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class (meaning you do not opt out of the Settlement). Opting out of the Settlement is telling the Court you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class or the Settlement. If you opt out, you cannot object to the Settlement.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on May 2, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern before Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand at United State District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 9B, 700 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and decide whether to approve the Settlement, Class Counsels’ application for attorneys’ fees and costs, and the incentive payments to the Plaintiffs. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. The Court may also listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing.

Note: The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing are subject to change. The Court may also decide to hold the hearing via Zoom or by telephone. Any change will be posted on this dedicated Settlement website.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. However, you are welcome to attend at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to Court to speak about it. As long as you file or mail your written objection on time, the Court will consider it.

Yes, as long as you do not exclude yourself (opt out), you can (but do not have to) participate and speak for yourself in this litigation and Settlement. This is called making an appearance. You also can have your own lawyer speak for you, but you will have to pay for the lawyer yourself.

If you want to appear, or if you want your own lawyer instead of Class Counsel to speak for you at the hearing, you must follow all of the procedures for objecting to the Settlement listed in Section IX and specifically include a statement whether you and your counsel will appear at the Final Approval Hearing.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you do nothing, you will not receive any Settlement benefits. You will give up the rights explained in the “Opting Out from the Settlement” section of the Notice (see FAQ 10 and FAQ 19), including your right to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants, the Released Parties about the legal issues in this litigation that are released by the Settlement Agreement.

The Notice and this website summarize the proposed Settlement. Complete details are provided in the Settlement Agreement, available here. You can find more information by calling 1-800-944-1017 or by writing to:

Walker v. Highmark Health Options Claims Administrator
PO Box 3937
Portland, OR 97208-3937

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT’S CLERK OFFICE REGARDING THE NOTICE or this website.