Answer:
If you are a Settlement Class Member, unless you exclude yourself from one or more of the settlements with the Settling Defendants, you will remain in the Settlement Class, and that means that you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Settling Defendants about the legal claims in this case. It also means that all of the Court’s orders will apply to you and legally bind you, and that you agree to the “Releases of Claims” specifically set forth in the Settlement Agreements with AVX, ELNA, Holy Stone, KEMET, Panasonic, Shinyei, Shizuki, and Taitsu available on this settlement website
In general (and subject to the precise terms as set forth in each of the Settlement Agreements), upon one or more of the Settlement Agreements becoming effective, the Named Plaintiffs and Settlement Class Members who did not otherwise properly and timely exclude themselves (“Releasors”) agree that the Settling Defendants and their officers, directors, employees, managers, members, partners, agents, attorneys and legal representatives, predecessors, successors, heirs, and affiliates (“Releasees”) shall be completely released, acquitted, and forever discharged from any and all manner of claims, demands, rights, actions, suits, and causes of action, whether class, individual, or otherwise in nature, damages whenever incurred, liabilities of any nature whatsoever, including costs, expenses, penalties, injuries, and attorneys’ fees that Releasors, or any one of them, whether directly, representatively, derivatively, or in any other capacity, ever had, now have, or hereafter can, shall, or may have against the Releasees, whether known or unknown, relating in any way to any conduct by Releasees alleged in the Action and any joint and several liability arising from the conduct of any of the Defendants in the Action prior to the Effective Date arising under or relating to any federal or state antitrust laws, unfair competition, unfair practices or trade practice laws, civil conspiracy, or common law or statutory fraud claims, whether such claims are known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, asserted or unasserted, foreseen or unforeseen, actual or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, regardless of legal theory and regardless of the type or amount of relief or damages claimed, including any claims arising out of, resulting from or in any way related to any conduct regardless of where it occurred at any time prior to December 31, 2013, concerning the purchase, pricing, selling, invoicing, discounting, marketing, manufacturing or distributing of Capacitors in the United States and its territories or for delivery in the United States and its territories. The Released Claims also include, but are not limited to, all claims asserted or which could have been asserted in this litigation relating to or arising out of the facts, occurrences, transactions, statements, or other matters alleged in this litigation including, but not limited to, claims arising under federal or state antitrust, unfair competition, unfair practices, price discrimination, unitary pricing, trade practice, or civil conspiracy law, including without limitation the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., but only to the extent they concern the purchase, pricing, selling, invoicing, discounting, marketing, manufacturing or distributing of Capacitors in the United States and its territories or for delivery in the United States and its territories. The released claims do not include any claim for any product defect, breach of warranty, breach of contract, claim under the Uniform Commercial Code, claim for personal or bodily injury, or claims based on indirect purchases of Capacitors.
To view the legally binding terms about the scope of the Released Claims, please refer to the proposed Settlement Agreements, which are available at this website.
By participating in the partial settlements, you are not giving up your rights against the Non-Settling Defendants.