Settlement Administration 5.1. The Settlement Administrator shall, under the supervision of the Court, administer the relief provided by this Settlement Agreement by processing Claim Forms in a rational, responsive, cost effective, and timely manner. The Settlement Administrator shall maintain reasonably detailed records of its activities under this Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Administrator shall maintain all such records as are required by applicable law in accordance with its normal business practices and such records will be made available to Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel upon request. The Settlement Administrator shall also provide reports and other information to the Court as the Court may require. The Settlement Administrator shall provide Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel with information concerning Notice, administration, and implementation of the Settlement Agreement. Should the Court request, the Parties, in conjunction with the Settlement Administrator, shall submit a timely report to the Court summarizing the work performed by the Settlement Administrator, including a report of all amounts paid to each Settlement Class Member on account of Approved Claims. Without limiting the foregoing, the Settlement Administrator shall:
(a) Forward to Defendants’ Counsel, with copies to Class Counsel, all documents and other materials received in connection with the administration of the Settlement Agreement within thirty (30) days after the date on which all Claim Forms have been finally approved or disallowed per the terms of the Settlement Agreement;
(b) Receive requests for exclusion and other requests from the Settlement Class and promptly provide a copy of such requests to Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel upon receipt (“the Opt-Out List”). If the Settlement Administrator receives any exclusion forms or other requests from the Settlement Class after the Objection/Exclusion Deadline, the Settlement Administrator shall promptly provide copies thereof to Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel;
(c) Provide weekly reports to Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel, including without limitation, reports regarding the number of Claim Forms received, the number determined to be rejected, the number of Approved Claims, and the number of calls to be paid per Settlement Class Member; and
(d) Make available for inspection by Class Counsel or Defendants’ Counsel the Claim Forms, any documentation or other evidence submitted in support thereof, and any correspondence received by the Settlement Administrator at any time upon reasonable notice.
5.2. The Settlement Administrator shall employ reasonable procedures to screen claims for abuse or fraud, including without limitation, by cross-referencing the information provided on the Claim Form against the Class List, and by reviewing the evidentiary proof submitted by Settlement Class Members. The Settlement Administrator shall reject a Claim Form, or any part of a claim for a payment reflected therein, where there is evidence of abuse or fraud. The Settlement Administrator shall also reject a Claim Form that does not contain all requested information necessary to screen the claim for fraud or abuse, after giving the claimant a reasonable opportunity of no greater than twenty-one (21) days to provide any requested missing information. The Settlement Administrator shall notify the claimant regarding the missing information via email, telephone call or direct mail, whichever is the most practical based on the information provided in the Claim Form. The validation of all Claim Forms by the Settlement Administrator shall occur no later than fourteen (14) days after the Effective Date and the Settlement Administrator shall give notice of such validation to counsel on that date.
5.3. Defendants and the Class Representatives will have the right to challenge the number of calls received by each Settlement Class Member that are eligible for payment. All challenges will be presented to the Special Master who will make a binding determination as to the number of calls received by each Settlement Class Member entitled to receive payment on account of an Approved Claim. To effectuate such challenge, the party making the challenge must provide email notice to the Settlement Administrator, Special Master and opposing counsel informing them of the claim(s) that party seeks to challenge and the factual basis for that challenge within thirty (30) days of the Settlement Administrator’s validation of all Claim Forms as an Approved Claims determination of the number of calls entitled to a pro rata payment, and notice of the validation. Challenges must be made to individual or designated groups of Claim Forms; so-called “blanket” or “mass” challenges to all Claim Forms without differentiation will not be allowed.
5.4. For Settlement Class Members that submit a Claim Form indicating that they received three (3) calls or fewer, the presumption of three (3) calls can be rebutted by Defendants’ challenges. All other Settlement Class Members will have the ultimate burden if their Claim Form is challenged to demonstrate the number of calls, greater than one (1), that they received.
5.5. In the event of a challenge, the Settlement Administrator shall notify each Settlement Class Member via email, telephone call or direct mail, whichever is the most practical based on the information provided in the Claim Form, that (i) the Settlement Class Member must within thirty (30) days either submit supplemental documentation to prove each call claimed or schedule a telephonic hearing with the Special Master where the Settlement Class Member must testify as to the basis for each separate call claimed, (ii) the Settlement Class Member has the burden of proving the specific number of calls received, and (iii) that the Settlement Class Member will still receive a payment on account of an Approved Claim regardless of the outcome of the challenge. Following the Claims Deadline, but in no event later than one hundred eighty (180) days after Final Judgment, the Special Master will make a determination regarding the claims under challenge, including the number of calls received by the Settlement Class Member
(1) based on the information already submitted, and (2) by requiring additional information in the form of (i) either supplemental documentation to prove each call claimed or testimony before the Special Master as to the basis for each separate call claimed. The Special Master’s determination regarding the claims under challenge shall be final and binding on the Parties. If the challenged Settlement Class Member does not timely submit the supplemental documentation or testify before the Special Master, the Special Master shall sustain the Defendants’ challenge and the Settlement Class Member will have an Approved Claim for one
(1) call. If the challenged Settlement Class Member does timely submit the supplemental documentation or testify before the Special Master, the Special Master will then, in his sole discretion, make a determination as to the number of calls for which the Settlement Class member can recover. To the extent the Special Master sustains Defendants’ challenge, the Settlement Class member will be permitted to recover for at least one (1) call.
