Bray v. GameStop Corporation Frequently Asked Questions

The lawsuit claims that GameStop was responsible for the Security Incident that occurred and asserts claims such as: negligence, negligence per se, breach of contract, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment and violation of the Indiana and North Carolina consumer protection statutes.  The lawsuit seeks compensation for people who had losses as a result of the Security Incident.

GameStop denies all of the Plaintiffs’ claims and says it did not do anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiffs” sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims.  All of these people together are the “Class” or “Class Members.”  In this case, the Representative Plaintiffs are Crystal Bray and Samuel Cook.  One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

By agreeing to settle, both sides avoid the cost and risk of a trial, and people who submit valid claims will get compensation.  The Representative Plaintiffs and their attorneys believe the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and, thus, best for the Class and its members.  The Settlement does not mean that GameStop did anything wrong.

You are included in the Settlement Class if you reside in the United States and used a credit, debit or other payment card to make (or attempt to make) a purchase on www.gamestop.com between August 10, 2016 and February 9, 2017.

Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) GameStop and its officers and directors; (ii) all Settlement Class Members who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class; (iii) the Judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of this settlement; and (iv) any other Person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, aiding, or abetting the criminal activity occurrence of the Security Incident or who pleads nolo contender (a no-contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea and is often offered as part of a plea bargain) to any such charge.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you may call 1-844-245-3771 with questions. You may also write with questions to Bray et al v. GameStop Corporation, c/o  Claims Administrator, PO Box 8268, Philadelphia, PA 19101-8268. Please do not contact the Court with questions.

The Settlement will provide payments to people who submit valid claims.

There are two types of payments that are available: (1) Expense Reimbursement and (2) Extraordinary Expense Reimbursement.  You may submit a claim for either or both types of payments.  In order to claim each type of payment, you must provide related documentation with the Claim Form.

Class Members are eligible to receive reimbursement of up to $235 (in total) for the following categories of out-pocket expenses resulting from the Security Incident:

• unreimbursed bank fees;
• unreimbursed card reissuance fees;
• unreimbursed overdraft fees;
• unreimbursed charges related to unavailability of funds;
• unreimbursed late fees;
• unreimbursed over-limit fees;
• long distance telephone charges;
• cell minutes (if charged by minute);
• internet usage charges and text messages;
• unreimbursed charges from banks or credit card companies;
• postage;
• interest on payday loans due to card cancelation or due to over-limit situation;
• costs of credit report(s);
• costs of credit monitoring and identity theft protection (up to $120);
• reimbursement of up to three hours of documented lost time (at $15 per hour) spent dealing with replacement card issues or in reversing fraudulent charges (only if at least one full hour was spent)
• and an additional $22 payment for each credit or debit card on which documented fraudulent charges were incurred that were later reimbursed.
  

Class Members who had other extraordinary unreimbursed monetary losses because of information compromised as part of the Security Incident are eligible to make a claim for reimbursement of up to $10,000.  As part of the claim, the Class Member must show that: (1) it is an actual, documented, and unreimbursed monetary loss; (2) the loss was more likely than not caused by the Security Incident; (3) the loss occurred during the time period from August 10, 2016 through February 9, 2017; (4) the loss is not already covered by one or more of the categories above in Question 7; and (5) a reasonable effort was made to avoid or seek reimbursement for the loss (including exhaustion of all available credit monitoring insurance and identity theft insurance).

More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement, which is available in the Important Documents section of this website.

To ask for a payment, you must complete and submit a Claim Form.  Claim Forms are available in the Important Documents section of this website, or you may request one by mail by calling 1-844-245-3771.  Read the instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, and mail it postmarked no later than December 13, 2018, to:

Bray et al v. GameStop Corporation
c/o Claims Administrator
PO Box 8268
Philadelphia, PA 19101-8268

We encourage you to submit your claim online. Not only is it easier and more secure, but it is completely free and takes only minutes!

The Claims Administrator will initially decide whether the information provided on a Claim Form is complete and valid.  The Claims Administrator may require additional information from any claimant.  If the required information is not provided timely, the claim will be considered invalid and will not be paid.

If the claim is complete and the Claims Administrator denies the claim entirely or partially, the claimant will be provided an opportunity to have their claim reviewed by an impartial Claim Referee who has been appointed by the Court.

You do not need to do anything to remain in the Settlement, but if you want a payment you must submit a Claim Form postmarked by December 13, 2018.

We encourage you to submit your claim online. Not only is it easier and more secure, but it is completely free and takes only minutes!

If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue GameStop for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.  The specific claims you are giving up against GameStop are described in Section 1.20 of the Settlement Agreement.  You will be “releasing” GameStop and all related people or entities as described in Section 6 of the Settlement Agreement.  The Settlement Agreement is available in the Important Documents section of this website.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully.  If you have any questions you can talk to the law firms listed below in Question 17 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about what this means.

If you do not want a payment from this Settlement, but you want to keep the right to sue GameStop about issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out of the Settlement Class.  This is called excluding yourself from – or is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of – the Settlement Class.

No.  Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue GameStop for the claims that this Settlement resolves.  You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case.  If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for a payment.

To exclude yourself, send a letter that says you want to be excluded from the Settlement in Bray, et al. v. GameStop Corp., Case No. 17-cv-01365-JEJ.  Include your name, address, and signature.  You must mail your Exclusion Request postmarked by December 13, 2018, to:

GameStop Settlement Exclusions
c/o Claims Administrator
PO Box 8268
Philadelphia, PA 19101-8268

Yes.  The Court appointed the following lawyers as “Class Counsel”: Benjamin F. Johns of Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, 361 W. Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, Pennsylvania 19041 and Cornelius P. Dukelow of Abington Cole + Ellery, 320 South Boston Avenue, Suite 1130, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103.  You will not be charged for these lawyers.  If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel will request the Court’s approval of an award for attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs and expenses of $557,500.  Class Counsel will also request approval of an incentive award of $3,750 for each of the Representative Plaintiffs.  Any amount that the Court awards for attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses, and an incentive award will be paid separately by GameStop and will not reduce the amount of payments to Class Members who submit valid claims.

You can tell the Court that you do not agree with the Settlement or some part of it.

You can object to the Settlement if you do not like it or some part of it.  The Court will consider your views.  To do so, you must file a written objection in this case, Bray, et al. v. GameStop Corp., Case No. 17-cv-01365-JEJ, with the Clerk of the Court at the address below.

Your objection must include all of the following: (i) your full name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address (if any); (ii) information identifying you as a Settlement Class Member, including proof that you are a member of the Settlement Class (e.g., copy of notice, copy of original notice of the Security Incident); (iii) a written statement of all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection that you believe is applicable; (iv) the identity of all counsel representing you, if any, in connection with your objection; (v) the identity of all counsel representing you who will appear at the Final Fairness Hearing; (vi) a list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Fairness Hearing in support of the objection; (vii) a statement confirming whether you intend to personally appear and/or testify at the Final Fairness Hearing; (viii) your signature and the signature of your duly authorized attorney or other duly authorized representative (along with documentation setting forth such representation); (ix) a list, by case name, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which you (directly or through counsel) have filed an objection to any proposed class action settlement within the last 3 years; (x) a list, by case name, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which your counsel (on behalf of any person or entity) has filed an objection to any proposed class action settlement within the last 3 years; and (xi) a list, by case name, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which you have been a named plaintiff in any class action or served as a lead plaintiff or representative plaintiff.

To be timely, your objection must be postmarked to the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for District of Delaware no later than December 13, 2018.  In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel, postmarked no later than December 13, 2018:

Court 

Chambers of the Honorable John E. Jones III
United States District Court,
228 Walnut Street
Harrisburg, PA 17108 

Class Counsel

Benjamin F. Johns
Chimicles & Tikellis LLP
361 W. Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041

Defense Counsel

Paul G. Karlsgodt
Baker & Hostetler LLP 
1801 California Street, Suite 4400
Denver, CO 80202

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the Settlement and why you do not think it should be approved.  You can object only if you do not exclude yourself from the Class.  Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Class.  If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 9:30 a.m. on December 19, 2018, in Courtroom #2 at the Harrisburg Federal Courthouse located at 228 Walnut St., Harrisburg, PA 17108.  The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this website for future updates or call 1-844-245-3771. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate.  If there are timely objections, the Court will consider them and will listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing if such a request has been properly made.  The Court will also rule on the request for an award of attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs and expenses, as well as the request for an incentive award for the Representative Plaintiffs.  After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement.  We do not know how long these decisions will take.

No.  Class Counsel will present the Settlement Agreement to the Court.  You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so.  If you send an objection, you do not have to come to the Court to talk about it.  As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions, the Court will consider it.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing.  To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions above in Question 20, including all the information required by items (v), (vi), and (vii).  Your Objection must be filed with the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for District of Delaware no later than December 13, 2018.  In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel, postmarked no later than December 13, 2018.

If you do nothing, you will get no benefits from this Settlement.  Unless you exclude yourself,  after the Settlement is granted final approval and the judgment becomes final, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against GameStop about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

The Class Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement.  More details are in the Settlement Agreement.  You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement in the Important Documents section.  You may also write with questions to Bray et al v. GameStop Corporation, c/o Claims Administrator, PO Box 8268, Philadelphia, PA 19101-8268.  You can also get a copy of the Claim Form on this website, or by calling the toll free number, 1-844-245-3771.