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Flat-screen price-fixing lawsuit checks are in the mail to Wisconsin consumers [The Wisconsin State Journal]
[October 31, 2014]

Flat-screen price-fixing lawsuit checks are in the mail to Wisconsin consumers [The Wisconsin State Journal]


(Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 31--If you bought LCD laptops, monitors or television sets between 1999 and 2006, this will probably be a good week, as the first of $27 million in lawsuit settlement checks are being sent to Wisconsin consumers.



Those who filed valid claims get $43.49 for every computer monitor or laptop claimed, and $86.98 for every LCD TV, according to the state Department of Justice.

In addition to that payback, the state received $1.5 million in civil penalties.


The settlement dates to 2012, when Wisconsin's J.B. Van Hollen joined 23 other states' attorneys general and private lawyers in a $1,124,354.89 agreement with international manufacturers of TFT-LCD panels. The lawsuit accused manufacturers of conspiracy to prevent competition and increase prices of the panels.

According to the settlement summaries, TFT-LCD Flat Panels (thin-film transistor liquid display panels) are the glass display panels used in many flat screen televisions, monitors and notebook computers. Monitors have various uses, including as desktop computers and TVs.

The settlement was unusual not only in size, but because no receipts or other documents were required for the small claims, which had to be made by Dec. 6, 2012. The first wave of check-sending began Wednesday.

The nine companies involved included Sharp, Toshiba, LG Display, Hitachi, Samsung, Epson, Chjunghwa, HannStar and AUO.

___ (c)2014 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Visit The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) at www.wisconsinstatejournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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