WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate today passed legislation sponsored by Senator Herb Kohl to stop unfair and abusive class action settlements that ignore the best interests of injured plaintiffs. Kohl is the lead Democratic sponsor of the Class Action Fairness Act, to help people understand their rights in class action lawsuits and protect them from unfair settlements. The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support in a 72 to 26 vote.

"While this bill does not solve all of the problems in the class action system, consumers will never again need to worry about being injured and receiving worthless coupons as damages. Businesses will never again need to fear being sued in a small county court where the rules are stacked against them. And, most importantly, every claim with merit will still go forward and the court house doors will always remain open," Kohl said.

Class action suits are brought on behalf of a group of individuals who all have the same complaint. While the vast majority of lawyers who work on class action lawsuits protect consumers, people sometimes get caught up in abusive cases. For example, a woman from Baraboo, Wisconsin was part of a class action lawsuit against her mortgage company. While she won the suit, she ended up owing money and then getting sued by the lawyers who were supposed to be representing her. In the recent Blockbuster video suit, plaintiffs received dollar-off coupons on their next video rental and the lawyers took over nine million dollars.

Kohl and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sponsored the Class Action Fairness Act. The bill makes it easier to move class action cases to federal court, where the judges are much more experienced and there are greater resources to deal with these very large cases. The bill also adds an extra layer of review for the class action settlements by permitting the Attorney General of a state whose constituents are affected to review and object, if necessary, to the settlements before the judge approves it.

###