Announcing a Class Action Settlement Involving Purchasers of Parking Heaters Directly from Webasto or Espar

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Two settlements, worth up to $15 million, have been reached with Defendants Webasto Products North America, Inc., Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, Inc. and Webasto Thermo & Comfort SE (collectively, "Webasto") and Eberspaecher Climate Control Systems GmbH & Co. KG, Espar, Inc., and Espar Products Inc. (collectively, "Espar") in a class action lawsuit about whether Webasto and Espar participated in an unlawful conspiracy to raise, fix, maintain, and/or stabilize the price of aftermarket Parking Heaters (heaters and accessories used to heat commercial vehicles) at artificially high levels. Webasto and Espar deny the allegations in the lawsuit but have agreed to the Settlements. The Court has not decided who is right.

Under the Settlements, "Parking Heaters" are defined as "parking heaters for commercial vehicles sold in the aftermarket, including the heaters themselves, accessories sold for use with the heaters, and parking heater kits containing heaters and selected accessories." Parking Heaters produce heat without the need to run a vehicle's engine or idling.

The Settlements include all persons or entities that purchased aftermarket Parking Heaters in the United States, its territories or possessions, directly from Webasto or Espar, or from any of their parents, predecessors, successors, subsidiaries, or affiliates, from October 1, 2007 through December 31, 2012. Federal and state government entities and Defendants, their officers, directors, and employees, as well as Defendants' parents, predecessors, successors, subsidiaries, affiliates are excluded. A person or entity fitting this definition is a "Class Member." It is important to note that anyone who bought Parking Heaters from any other source and not directly from Webasto or Espar, are not Class Members.

The Settlements offers automatic payments to Class Members. If a Class Member received a notice in the mail and the Settlement is approved, they do not need to file a claim in order to receive a payment. Estimated payments will be calculated based on available purchase data. Once the calculations are made, Class Members can visit the Settlements website and input their unique ID number (notices with unique ID numbers were mailed to all identified Class Members) to see their estimated payment. Anyone who believes they are a Class Member and did not receive a notice in the mail should visit www.DirectParkingHeaterSettlement.com or call toll-free 1-888-396-9582.

Class Members who do not want to be legally bound by one or both of the Settlements must exclude themselves by December 1, 2018. Class Members who do not exclude themselves will release any claims they may have against Webasto and Espar. Class Members may object to one or both of the Settlements by December 1, 2018. Class Members cannot both exclude themselves from, and object to, the Settlements. The Detailed Notice available at www.DirectParkingHeaterSettlement.com explains how to exclude or object. The Court will hold a fairness hearing on January 9, 2019 to consider whether to finally approve the Settlements and a request for attorneys' fees of up to 33-1/3% of the total Settlement Amount and incentive awards for each of the Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs. Class Members may appear at the fairness hearing, either by themselves or through an attorney hired by them, but do not have to. For more information, call 1-888-396-9582 or visit www.DirectParkingHeaterSettlement.com.

SOURCE United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Related Links

http://www.DirectParkingHeaterSettlement.com