Administration of Claims 8.1. The Claims Administrator shall administer and calculate the claims submitted by Settlement Class Members under ¶ 2. Proposed Class Counsel and PTHC shall be given reports as to both claims and distribution, and have the right to review and obtain supporting documentation and challenge any such claim if they believe it to be inaccurate or inadequate. If the Claims Administrator is unable to make a determination regarding a particular claim, any claims agreed to be paid in full by PTHC shall be deemed valid. The Claims Administrator’s final determination of the validity or invalidity of any claims shall be binding, subject to the dispute resolution process set forth in ¶ 2.7.
8.2. Checks for approved claims shall be mailed and postmarked within sixty (60) days of the Effective Date, or within thirty (30) days of the date that the claim is approved, whichever is later. No approved claims shall be paid until after the Effective Date. If this Settlement Agreement is terminated or otherwise does not become Final (e.g., disapproval by the Court or any appellate court) prior to the payment of approved claims, PTHC shall have no obligation to pay such claims and shall only be required to pay costs and expenses related to notice and administration that were already incurred.
8.3. All Settlement Class Members who fail to timely submit a claim for any benefits hereunder within the time frames set forth herein, or such other period as may be ordered by the Court, or otherwise allowed, shall be forever barred from receiving any payments or benefits pursuant to the settlement set forth herein, but will in all other respects be subject to, and bound by, the provisions of the Settlement Agreement, the releases contained herein and the Judgment.
8.4. No Person shall have any claim against the Claims Administrator, PTHC, Proposed Class Counsel, Plaintiff, and/or PTHC’s counsel based on distributions of benefits to Settlement Class Members.
8.5. The Parties, Class Counsel, and PTHC’s Counsel shall not have any liability whatsoever with respect to (i) any act, omission or determination of the Claims Administrator, or any of its respective designees or agents, in connection with the Claims Administration or otherwise; or
Claims Administrator 12. The Claims Administrator shall be selected by Class Counsel and approved by the Court.
13. The Claims Administrator shall administer the process of receiving, reviewing and approving or denying claims under Class Counsel’s supervision and subject to the jurisdiction of the Court.
14. The Claims Administrator shall receive Claims and determine first, whether the Claim is an Authorized Claim, in whole or in part; and second, each Authorized Claimant’s pro rata share of the Net Cash Settlement Amount based upon each Authorized Claimant’s Recognized Alleged Loss amount.
15. The Settlement Fund shall be applied as follows:
(1) to pay Class Counsel’s Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses, and the Service Award and expenses of Plaintiff (the “Attorneys’ Fees, Expenses and Service Award”), if and to the extent allowed by the Court;
(2) to pay all the costs and expenses reasonably and actually incurred in connection with providing notice, locating Settlement Class Members, soliciting Settlement Class claims, assisting with the filing of claims, administering and distributing the Net Settlement Fund to Authorized Claimants, processing Claim Forms, and paying escrow fees and costs, if any;
(3) to pay any taxes and tax expenses; and
(4) to distribute the balance of the Settlement Fund to Authorized Claimants as allowed by the Settlement Agreement, the Plan of Allocation, or order of the Court.
16. The Plan of Allocation is not a necessary term of this Settlement Agreement, and it is not a condition of this Settlement Agreement that any particular Plan of Allocation be approved.
17. Each Authorized Claimant shall be allocated a pro rata share of the Net Cash Settlement Amount based on his, her or its Recognized Alleged Loss compared to the total Recognized Alleged Losses of all Authorized Claimants. Defendants shall not be entitled to any of the Settlement consideration once the Effective Date has occurred.
18. Any Class Member who does not submit a valid Claim Form will not be entitled to receive any distribution from the Net Cash Settlement Amount, but will otherwise be bound by all of the terms of this Settlement Agreement and the Settlement, including the terms of the Final Order Approving Settlement to be entered in the Class Action and the Releases provided for herein, and will be barred and enjoined from bringing any action against the Releasees concerning the Released Claims.
19. Class Counsel shall be responsible for supervising the administration of the Settlement and disbursement of the Net Cash Settlement Amount by the Claims Administrator. Defendants shall have no liability, obligation, involvement, or responsibility for the administration of the Settlement or disbursement of the Net Cash Settlement Amount. Class Counsel shall have the right, but not the obligation, to waive what they deem to be non-substantive or technical defects in any Claim Forms submitted in the interests of achieving substantial justice.
20. For purposes of determining the extent, if any, to which a Settlement Class Member shall be entitled to be treated as an Authorized Claimant, the following conditions shall apply:
a. Each Class Member shall be required to submit a Claim Form setting forth the Class Member’s Alleged Losses, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit C, supported by such documents as are designated therein, or as the Claims Administrator or Class Counsel, in their discretion, may deem acceptable.
b. All Claim Forms must be submitted by the date set by the Court in the Preliminary Approval Order and specified in the Notice, which the Parties will request to be sixty (60) days after mailing, unless such deadline is extended by Order of the Court. Any Class Member who fails to submit a Claim Form by such date shall be forever barred from receiving any distribution from the Net Cash Settlement Amount or payment pursuant to this Settlement Agreement (unless, by Order of the Court, late-filed Claim Forms are accepted), but shall in all other respects be bound by all of the terms of this Settlement Agreement and the Settlement including the terms of the Final Order Approving Settlement and the Releases provided for herein, and will be barred and enjoined from bringing any action against the Releasees concerning the Released Claims. A Claim Form shall be deemed to be submitted when posted, if received with a postmark indicated on the envelope and if mailed by first-class mail and addressed in as per the instructions thereon.
c. Each Claim Form shall be submitted to and reviewed by the Claims Administrator, under the supervision of Class Counsel, who shall determine in accordance with this Settlement Agreement, the extent, if any, to which each Claim shall be allowed, subject to review by the Court pursuant to subparagraph “f” below;
d. Claim Forms that do not meet the submission requirements may be rejected. Prior to rejecting a Claim in whole or in part, the Claims Administrator shall communicate with the Claimant in writing, email or by telephone to give the Claimant the chance to remedy any curable deficiencies in the Claim Form submitted. The Claims Administrator, under the supervision of Class Counsel, shall notify, in a timely fashion and in writing, all Claimants whose Claim they propose to reject in whole or in part, setting forth the reasons therefore, and shall indicate in such notice that the Claimant whose claim is to be rejected has the right to a review by the Court if the Claimant so desires and complies with the requirements of subparagraph (e) below.
e. If any Claimant whose claim has been rejected in whole or in part desires to contest such rejection, the Claimant must, within twenty-one (21) days after the date of mailing of the notice required in subparagraph (d) above, serve upon the Claims Administrator a notice and statement of reasons indicating the Claimant’s grounds for contesting the rejection along with any supporting documentation, and requesting a review thereof by the Court. If a dispute concerning a Claim cannot be otherwise resolved, Class Counsel shall thereafter present the request to the Court.
f. The administrative determinations of the Claims Administrator in accepting and rejecting Claims shall be presented for approval by the Court.
21. Each Claimant shall be deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court with respect to the Claimant’s Claim, and the Claim will be subject to investigation and discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, provided, however that such investigation and discovery shall be limited to that Claimant’s status as a Class Member and the validity and amount of the Claimant’s Claim. No discovery shall be allowed on the merits of the Class Action or Settlement in connection with the processing of Claim Forms.
22. Class Counsel will apply to the Court for a Class Distribution Order: (a) approving the Claims Administrator’s administrative determinations concerning the acceptance and rejection of the Claims submitted; (b) approving payment of any administration fees and expenses associated with the administration of the Settlement from the Settlement Administration Account; and (c) if the Effective Date has occurred, directing payment of the Net Cash Settlement Amount to the Authorized Claimants.
23. The Net Cash Settlement Amount shall be distributed to Authorized Claimants substantially in accordance with the Plan of Allocation set forth in the Class Notice and approved by the Court. Any such Plan of Allocation is not a part of this Settlement Agreement. No funds from the Net Cash Settlement Amount shall be distributed to Authorized Claimants until the Effective Date. If there is any balance remaining in the Net Cash Settlement Amount after six (6) months from the date of distribution of the Net Cash Settlement Amount, Class Counsel shall, if feasible, reallocate such balance among Authorized Claimants in an equitable and economic fashion. Thereafter, any remaining balance shall be donated to one or more secular §501(c)(3) organization(s) selected by Class Counsel, not related or controlled by any Party or their counsel.
24. Payment pursuant to the Class Distribution Order shall be final and conclusive against all Class Members who are Authorized Claimants.
25. All proceedings with respect to the administration, processing and determination of Claims and the determination of all controversies relating thereto, including disputed questions of law and fact with respect to the validity of Claims, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Court.
26. The Claims Administrator is to be charged with, among other things, distribution of the Class Notice, setting up and running a toll-free center to respond to calls, receipt and handling of requests for information, receipt of requests for exclusion and distribution of settlement relief to Class Members in the Settlement.
I. Releases and Waivers
27. Pursuant to the Order Approving Settlement, without further action by anyone, and whether or not a Claim Form has been executed and/or delivered by or on behalf of any such Settlement Class Member, on and after the Effective Date, Representative Plaintiff and all other Settlement Class Members, on behalf of themselves and their other Releasors, for good and sufficient consideration, and all Releasors shall be deemed to have, and by operation of law and of the Order Approving Settlement shall have, fully, finally, and forever released, relinquished, settled, and discharged:
a. all Released Claims;
b. all Claims, damages, and liabilities against each and every one of the Releasees to the extent that any such Claims, damages, or liability relate in any way to any or all acts, omissions, nondisclosures, facts, matters, transactions, occurrences, or oral or written statements or representations in connection with, or directly or indirectly relating to (i) the prosecution, defense, or settlement of the Class Action, (ii) the Settlement Agreement, (iii) the Settlement terms and their implementation, (iv) the provision of notice in connection with the proposed Settlement, and/or (v) the resolution of any Claim Forms filed in connection with the Settlement; and
c. all Claims against any of the Releasees for attorneys’ fees, costs, or disbursements incurred by Plaintiff’s counsel, the settlement of the Class Action, or the administration of the Settlement, except as otherwise specified in the Settlement Agreement.
28. The Settling Parties agree and acknowledge that this Settlement Agreement is intended to resolve and satisfy any and all claims that the Releasors have made or could have made against any of the Releasees arising out of the issuance or sale of GrowCo securities. The Parties agree and acknowledge that they shall seek as part of the Final Order Approving Settlement an order prohibiting further lawsuits and claims against the Defendants arising out of the issuance and sale of GrowCo securities which the Parties intend to operate as a complete bar to any lawsuits or claims against the Defendants arising out of the issuance or sale of GrowCo securities (the “Complete Bar Order”). The Complete Bar Order will not bar claims for collection of any amounts due under the GrowCo securities pursuant to the terms of the securities, including claims in the event of a GrowCo liquidation including in the GrowCo Bankruptcy Action.
29. Nothing in the Final Order Approving Settlement shall bar any action or Claim by the Settling Parties or their counsel to enforce the terms of the Settlement Agreement or the Order Approving Settlement.
30. The Releasors and each of them agree and covenant not to sue or prosecute, institute or cooperate in the institution, commencement, filing, or prosecution of any suit or proceeding in any forum based upon or related to any Released Claims against any Releasee.
31. Each of the releases, waivers, and covenants not to sue contained in this Section was separately bargained for and is an essential element of the Settlement Agreement.
