HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06172014 - C.11RECOMMENDATION(S):
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County’s participation in the partial settlement of In re Optical Disk Drive
Products Antitrust Litigation, Northern District of California Multi District Litigation Case No. 2143.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No funds will be allocated to members of the plaintiff class until this case is finally resolved. At that time, a third
party settlement administrator will determine the amount of the settlement funds to be allocated to the County.
BACKGROUND:
On April 25, 2014, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order
preliminarily approving a partial settlement in In re Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litigation, Northern
District of California Multi District Litigation Case No. 2143, a class action lawsuit. This lawsuit involves claims
related to price-fixing of optical disk drives and optical disk drive devices (e.g., compact disc drives, DVD drives,
Blu-ray products, high-definition DVD drives, Super Multi-Drives). The lawsuit was filed against 30 defendants that
manufacture and sell these devices. The County is a member of the plaintiff class, which is made up of persons and
entities that purchased optical disk drives and optical disk drive devices between January 1, 2004 and December 31,
2011, from the defendants.
This partial settlement is with one of the defendants, NEC Corporation, and requires that defendant to pay $6,000,000
into a settlement fund. The litigation will continue to proceed against the remaining non-settling defendants.
Settlement funds will not be distributed to members of the plaintiff class until the entire litigation is finally resolved.
APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Action of Board On: 06/17/2014 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II
Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III
Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV
Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V
Supervisor
Contact: Ed Woo
925.957-7771
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board
of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: June 17, 2014
David Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
By: Stacey M. Boyd, Deputy
cc: Chief Information Officer, County Counsel
C. 11
To:Board of Supervisors
From:Ed Woo, Chief Information Officer
Date:June 17, 2014
Contra
Costa
County
Subject:Partial Settlement of In re Optical Disk Drive Products Antitrust Litigation, Northern District of California Multi
District Litigation Case No. 2143
BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
> The Court will hold a fairness hearing on August 14, 2014. At the fairness hearing, the Court will certify the class
of plaintiffs that will participate in the partial settlement with NEC Corporation, and will conclude this litigation as to
NEC Corporation. Participation in the partial settlement is discretionary. If the Board of Supervisors approves
participating in the partial settlement, no further action will be required (i.e., no claim forms need to be submitted at
this time). If the Board of Supervisors approves participating in the partial settlement, it will be releasing NEC from
all claims related to price-fixing of optical disk drives and optical disk drive devices. However, product defect, breach
of contract, and personal injury claims would not be released. (The settlement agreement that provides for the partial
settlement of the litigation against NEC is available online at
http://www.ODDirectPurchaserAntitrustSettlement.com/ .)
The Board of Supervisors could decide to not participate in the partial settlement with NEC. The Board of
Supervisors also could decide that the County should individually pursue any claims it may have against NEC. If the
Board of Supervisors does not approve participating in this partial settlement, the County will not be entitled to any
of the settlement funds when they are eventually distributed to members of the plaintiff class. Further, to assert its
individual claims, which the class and its attorneys have asserted on behalf of the County and other class members in
the litigation, the County would need to initiate costly litigation against NEC.
For the foregoing reasons, the Chief Information Officer recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve
participating in this partial settlement.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Board of Supervisors does not approve participating in the settlement of the Litigation, the County will not be
entitled to any of the settlement funds paid by NEC.
CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:
N/A