Crystal Chapman v. America’s Lift Chairs, LLC

The Court authorized a Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of a class action lawsuit. You have legal rights and options that you may exercise before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement, as described below. Judge Stan Baker of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia is overseeing this class action. The lawsuit is called Chapman v. America’s Lift Chairs, LLC, Case. No 4:21-cv-245 (S.D. Ga.). 

Plaintiffs Chapman and Nelums claim that America’s Lift Chairs violated the Federal TCPA when their telemarketer Prospects DM made telemarketing calls to cellular telephone numbers, including numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. America’s Lift Chairs denies these allegations.

In a class action, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiffs” (in this case, Crystal Chapman and Joseph Nelums) sue on behalf of a group of people who may have similar claims. The people together are a “class” or “class members.” The individual who sues—and all the class members like them—is called the plaintiff. The company that they sue (in this case, America’s Lift Chairs) is called the Defendant. In a class action, the Court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the class.

The Court decided that this lawsuit can be a class action because it meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, which governs class actions in federal courts. 

The Court has not found in favor of Plaintiff or America’s Lift Chairs. Instead, the Parties have agreed to a Settlement. By agreeing to the Settlement, the Parties avoid the costs and uncertainty of a trial, and if the Settlement is approved by the Court, Class Members will receive the benefits described on this website. America’s Lift Chairs denies all legal claims in this case, but is settling to avoid the uncertainties and costs attendant with litigation. Plaintiffs and their lawyers think the proposed Settlement is best for everyone who is affected. 

The Settlement includes the following class that the Court certified: “All users or subscribers to telephone numbers that received a pre-recorded telemarketing call by Prospects DM on behalf of America’s Lift Chairs, LLC and/or that were on the national Do Not Call Registry and received a telemarketing call from Prospects DM, Inc. and any related entities on behalf of America’s Lift Chairs, LLC from August 31, 2017 through the date of preliminary approval.”

You may be part of the Class if you received a telemarketing call from Prospects DM for America’s Lift Chairs and: 

• Your name and phone number appeared in calling records obtained for this case, in which case you may have received a Notice email or postcard from the Settlement Administrator.

• Even if you did not get an email or postcard, you may still be part of the class if your cell phone number appears in the calling records obtained for this case. If you would like to check your cell phone number against the calling records, please use the ‘Contact’ section on this website to contact the Settlement Administrator.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can call the Chapman v. America’s Lift Chairs, LLC, Case. No 4:21-cv-245 (S.D. Ga.) Settlement Administrator toll-free at 1-833-630-8585. Or you can get free help by calling the lawyers in this case at the phone number listed in question 24.

America’s Lift Chairs has agreed to a Settlement Sum of $1,700,000. The Settlement Sum will be used to pay all Settlement costs, including Settlement Administration Expenses, any attorneys’ Fee Award awarded to Class Counsel by the Court, and all Approved Claims. Members of the Class who submit Approved Claims shall receive an amount not to exceed forty dollars and three cents ($40.03), less each Class Member’s share of any attorneys’ Fee Award. In the event that Approved Claims exceed a certain threshold the amount will also be reduced by each Class Member’s share Settlement Administration Expenses. Only Approved Claims will be paid. Only one claim per Class Member per telephone number will be validated and deemed an Approved Claim. There may be tax consequences to the Class Member associated with this recovery.

America’s Lift Chairs has also agreed to implement enhanced policies and procedures to ensure future compliance with the TCPA.

To qualify for a cash payment you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form. You can file your Claim Form online on this website, send it by email to [email protected], or by U.S. Mail to the address below. The deadline to file a Claim online or by email is 11:59 p.m. ET on September 4, 2023.

Claim Forms submitted by mail must be postmarked on or before September 4, 2023 to:

Payments to Class Members will be made only after the Court grants Final Approval to the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved (see “Final Approval Hearing” below). If there are Appeals, resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

If you do not want benefits from the Settlement, and you want to keep the right to sue or continue to sue America’s Lift Chairs on your own about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out of the Settlement. This is called excluding yourself – or it is sometimes referred to as “opting-out” of the Class.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must send a timely letter by mail to:

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up the right to sue America’s Lift Chairs or any of the Released Parties for the claims that the Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from this Settlement to pursue your own lawsuit.

Unless you opt-out of the Settlement, you cannot sue or be part of any other lawsuit against America’s Lift Chairs or any of the Released Parties about the issues in this case, including any existing litigation, arbitration, or proceeding. Unless you exclude yourself, all of the decisions and judgments by the Court will bind you.

The Settlement Agreement is available in the documents section of this website. The Settlement Agreement provides more detail regarding the Release and describes the Released Claims with specific descriptions in necessary, accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully.

No. You will not get a payment from the Settlement Sum if you exclude yourself from the Settlement.

The Court has appointed Avi Kaufman and Anthony Paronich to represent the Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They are experienced in handling similar class action cases. More information about these lawyers, their law firms, and their experience is available at https://kaufmanpa.com/ and www.paronichlaw.com.

You are not required to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel is working on your behalf. If you want to hire your own lawyer, you certainly can, but you will have to pay that lawyer yourself. If you do hire your own lawyer, they may enter an appearance for you and represent you individually in this case. 

You do not have to pay Class Counsel, or anyone else, to participate. Instead, Class Counsel intend to request Fee Award in an amount not to exceed one-third of the Settlement Sum, plus reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the Litigation. The fees and expenses awarded by the Court will be paid out of the Settlement Sum. The Court will decide the amount of fees and expenses to award.

If you are a member of the Class (and do not exclude yourself from the Class), you can object to any part of the Settlement. To object, you must timely submit a letter that includes the following:

1) A caption or title that identifies it as “Objection to Class Settlement in Chapman v. America’s Lift Chairs, LLC No. 4:21-cv-245 (S.D. Ga.)”;

2) Your name, address, and telephone number; 

3) The name, address, and telephone number of any attorney for you with respect to the objection; 

4) The factual basis and legal grounds for the objection, including any documents sufficient to establish the basis for your standing as a Class Member, including the phone number(s) at which you received call(s) covered by this Settlement;

5) Identification of the case name, case number, and court for any prior class action lawsuit in which you and/or your attorney (if applicable) has objected to a proposed class action settlement; and 

6) Submit yourself immediately to discovery and/or deposition by the parties.

If you wish to object, you must file your objection with the Court by (a) using the Court’s electronic filing system, (b) mailing it to the Clerk’s Office for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, 8 Southern Oaks Ct., Savannah, GA, or (c) filing it in person at that location. Your objection must be filed and/or postmarked by September 4, 2023.

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you do not exclude yourself. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object to the Settlement because it no longer affects you.

The Court will hold a hearing to decide whether to approve the Settlement and any requests for attorneys’ fees and expenses (“Final Approval Hearing”).

The Court has scheduled a Final Approval Hearing on September 7, 2023 at 10 a.m. ET, in Courtroom 1, 8 Southern Oaks Court, Savannah, Georgia 31405. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time, or may be set for remote appearances, without additional mailed notice, so it is a good idea to check this website for updates. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. The Court will also consider the requests by Class Counsel for a Fee Award. If there are objections, the Court will consider them at that time. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. It is unknown how long these decisions will take.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. You are welcome to attend the hearing at your own expense. 

If you attend the Final Approval Hearing, you may ask the Court for permission to speak if you have timely objected and you so choose. However, you cannot speak at the hearing if you exclude yourself from the Settlement.

If you are a member of the Class and do nothing, meaning you do not file a timely Claim, you will not get benefits from the Settlement. Further, unless you exclude yourself, you will be bound by the judgment entered by the Court.

For more information, you may call the Settlement Administrator toll-free at 1-833-630-8585, write to the Settlement Administrator, Chapman v. America’s Lift Chairs, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, P.O. Box 5324, New York, NY 10150-5324, or call Class Counsel at (305) 469-5881. For a complete, definitive statement of the Settlement terms, refer to the Settlement Agreement in the documents section of this website.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT OR THE CLAIM PROCESS