• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Case 3:15-cv-02159-VC Document 183 Filed 01/19/18 Page 1 of 11 1 Derek W. Loeser, admitted pro hac vice Gretchen Freeman Cappio, admitted pro hac vice 2 KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. 3 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 Seattle, WA 98101-3052 4 (206) 623-1900; Fax: (206) 623-3384 [email protected] 5 [email protected] 6 Jeffrey Lewis (Bar No. 66587) 7 KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. 300 Lakeside Drive, Suite 1000 8 Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 463-3900; Fax: (510) 463-3901 9 [email protected] 10 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 11 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 12 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 13 SHAHRIAR JABBARI and KAYLEE 14 HEFFELFINGER, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, No. 15-cv-02159-VC 15 Plaintiffs, DECLARATION OF SHANNON R. 16 WHEATMAN, PH.D. ON THE 17 v. IMPLEMENTATION AND ADEQUACY OF THE CLASS NOTICE 18 WELLS FARGO & COMPANY and WELLS PROGRAM FARGO BANK, N.A., 19 Defendants. 20 21 I, Shannon R. Wheatman, declare as follows: 22 1. I am president of Kinsella Media, LLC (“KM”), a nationally recognized 23 advertising and legal notification firm in Washington, D.C. specializing in the design and 24 implementation of notification programs to reach unidentified putative class members, primarily 25 in consumer and antitrust class actions, and claimants in bankruptcy and mass tort litigation. My 26 27 business address is 2101 L Street, NW Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20037. My telephone 28 number is (202) 686-4111. DECLARATION OF SHANNON R. WHEATMAN, PH.D. ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ADEQUACY OF THE CLASS NOTICE PROGRAM Case 3:15-cv-02159-VC Document 183 Filed 01/19/18 Page 2 of 11 1 2. I submit this declaration in connection with the above referenced matter, Jabbari 2 v. Wells Fargo & Company and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. My credentials were previously 3 submitted to the court in the Declaration of Shannon R. Wheatman, Ph.D. on Adequacy of the 4 Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and for Certification of a 5 Settlement Class (“Notice Program Declaration”), filed on April 20, 2017 (Dkt. No. 109). The 6 7 Notice Program Declaration described the Notice Program designed by KM, and the Court 8 subsequently approved the Notice Program on July 8, 2017. This declaration describes the 9 implementation of the Notice Program and measures taken to provide the best notice of the Class 10 Settlement that was practicable under the circumstances. 11 3. This declaration is based upon my personal knowledge and upon information 12 provided by Class Counsel, Defense Counsel, and my associates and staff. The information is of 13 a type reasonably relied upon in the fields of advertising, media, and communications. 14 15 I. NOTICE PROGRAM OVERVIEW 16 4. The Court-approved Notice Program, designed and implemented for this case, 17 achieved each of the planned objectives. 18 5. Each element of the Notice Program approved by the Court was implemented. 19 6. In my view, the Notice Program provided the best notice practicable under the 20 circumstances of this case and satisfied due process. The details of the Notice Program and the 21 22 basis for my opinion on its adequacy are outlined below. 23 II. NOTICE PROGRAM SUMMARY 24 Direct Mail Notice 25 7. Specific information regarding the Direct Mail Notice portion of the Notice 26 Program is provided in the Declaration of Joel K. Botzet Re: Claims Administration Process, 27 which is being filed concurrently with this Declaration (“Botzet Declaration”). 28 DECLARATION OF SHANNON R. WHEATMAN, PH.D. - 2 - ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ADEQUACY OF THE CLASS NOTICE PROGRAM Case 3:15-cv-02159-VC Document 183 Filed 01/19/18 Page 3 of 11 1 8. In developing the Notice Program, it was determined that a comprehensive list of 2 potential Class Members could be created, so it was reasonable and appropriate to reach them via 3 direct mail in the form of a Summary Notice1 with Claim Form (“Direct Mail Notice”). 4 9. As detailed in the Botzet Declaration, Rust Consulting, Inc.2 (“Rust”) mailed a 5 Direct Mail Notice to pre-Identified Claimants. 6 7 10. The Direct Mail Notices provided an overview of the Settlement benefits and 8 directed readers to the Settlement website and toll-free number where they could download or 9 request the Long Form Notice. 10 11. As detailed in the Botzet Declaration, the Notices that were returned as non- 11 deliverable were re-mailed if a new address was available through standard and customized 12 tracing or through a forwarding address provided by the United States Postal Service. As of 13 January 17, 2018, 401,397 mailed notices remain undelivered. Based on this data, 86.6% of the 14 15 mailings were delivered. 16 12. Starting November 21, 2017, Rust sent an email (in English or Spanish) about the 17 Settlement to potential Class Members who registered on the Settlement website. The email 18 provided a short overview of the Class Settlement and directed Class Members to the Settlement 19 website. 20 13. Starting August 31, 2017, Wells Fargo sent a Statement Notice email about the 21 22 Settlement to all current and former customers who provided a valid email address to Wells 23 Fargo. Starting September 2017, Wells Fargo included a Statement Notice in monthly (or 24 1 25 The mailed Summary Notice and Summary Notices on the website (English and Spanish) included the updated opt-out and objection deadlines and Final Fairness Hearing date. The 26 Publication Notice contained the original approved dates because by the time the change was Court-approved, the notices had been printed in their respective publications. All the notices 27 directed Class Members to visit the website (or call the toll-free number) for the most current deadlines and Settlement information. 28 2 KM is a subsidiary of Rust, a consulting and administration firm. DECLARATION OF SHANNON R. WHEATMAN, PH.D. - 3 - ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ADEQUACY OF THE CLASS NOTICE PROGRAM Case 3:15-cv-02159-VC Document 183 Filed 01/19/18 Page 4 of 11 1 quarterly) statements for Wells Fargo consumer and small business checking and savings, 2 unsecured credit card, and unsecured line of credit accounts. Specific information regarding this 3 portion of the Notice Program is provided in the Declaration of Chris Mathews in Support of 4 Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement. 5 Paid Media 6 7 14. To supplement the Direct Mail Notice and reach Class Members who had not 8 been identified by Wells Fargo, KM designed a paid media program to reach Class Members 9 who did not receive a Notice via mail. 10 15. As described in the Notice Program Declaration, KM used GfK MRI’s 2016 11 Doublebase Study3 and comScore4 to select a target audience. The target audience selected was 12 adults eighteen years of age or older who have a Wells Fargo Account (“Wells Fargo Account 13 Holders”). KM utilized media outlets based on their ability to provide effective and cost- 14 15 efficient penetration of the target audience. 16 A. Publication Notice 17 16. The Publication Notice provided important information regarding the subject of 18 the litigation, the Class definition, and the legal rights available to Class Members, and it 19 directed readers to the Settlement website to find more information. Attached as Exhibit 1 is an 20 example of the Publication Notice as it appeared when published. 21 22 23 24 3 GfK MRI produces an annual Doublebase Study, a study of more than 50,000 adults providing two full years of data. The sample includes over 26,000 respondents. Fieldwork is done in two 25 waves per year, each lasting six months and consisting of 13,000 interviews. At the end of the interview, the fieldworker presents a self-administered questionnaire that measures approximately 26 500 product/service categories, 6,000 brands, and various lifestyle activities. 4 27 comScore, Inc. (“comScore”) measures Internet usage and other activity through monitoring software installed on the computers of a panel of approximately two million people. Active in 28 170 countries, comScore tracks more than three million unique websites. DECLARATION OF SHANNON R. WHEATMAN, PH.D. - 4 - ON THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ADEQUACY OF THE CLASS NOTICE PROGRAM Case 3:15-cv-02159-VC Document 183 Filed 01/19/18 Page 5 of 11 1 17. The Publication Notice appeared as a color advertisement in the magazine Time 2 and the following national newspapers: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA 3 Today. 4 18. To reach populations in California and Arizona who may have a large proportion 5 of Class Members, the Publication Notice appeared as a color advertisement in the daily edition 6 5 7 of the following local newspapers: Los Angeles Times and The Arizona Republic. 8 19. The Publication Notice also appeared as a color advertisement in the weekly 9 edition of the following local Hispanic newspapers: El Clasificado (Los Angeles, California) and 10 TV y Más (Arizona). Attached as Exhibit 2 is an example of the Publication Notice, translated 11 into Spanish, as it appeared when published in the Hispanic newspapers. 12 B. Digital Notice 13 20. In addition to published notice, KM used Internet banner advertising to provide 14 15 potential Class Members with additional notice opportunities beyond the print placement. The 16 banner advertisement was designed to alert potential Class Members to the Settlement using a 17 bold message and graphics. The simple message enabled potential Class Members to quickly 18 determine if they might be affected by the Settlement.

Load more

  62

Copy Link