THURSTON COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
Liang, et al. v. State of Washington Dep’t of Social & Health Services (DSHS), et al.
If you are or were an Individual Provider (IP) who provided personal care to clients whose paid care hours were reduced by DSHS because of the “shared benefit” rules, you could receive a payment from a class action settlement.
A court authorized the notice. It is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
Settlement checks were mailed on November 15, 2022. Checks are valid for 180 days and have a void date of May 14, 2023. Please cash your check before the void date.
Please allow the U.S. Postal Service a few weeks to deliver the checks before requesting a reissue.
A settlement will provide $116 million to pay claims by Individual Providers (IPs) who provided personal care to clients whose paid care hours were reduced by DSHS because of DSHS’s “shared benefit” rules between March 7, 2014, and February 28, 2021.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit over whether IPs were denied full compensation for hours worked because of the shared benefit rules; pays money to IPs; avoids risks from continuing the lawsuit; pays money to IPs like you; and releases DSHS and other defendants from liability.
Your legal rights are affected whether or not you act. Read the notice carefully.
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT
| Do Nothing and, if you receive a check, cash it |
Stay in this lawsuit. Give up certain rights.
By doing nothing, you will remain in the class. If the settlement is approved and you have a share of it, you will receive a check. See Sections 9-13. If you cash or deposit that check, you are verifying that you worked for an affected client, provided the client a certain amount of care, and were not paid for those services. This verification is detailed in Section 13 below. If you do not cash the check, that amount will be redistributed to other IPs but you still give up your right to sue DSHS for the claims covered by the settlement.
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| Exclude Yourself |
Get out of this lawsuit. Get no benefits from it. Keep rights.
If you exclude yourself or “opt out” from this settlement, you will not receive a settlement payment. But, you will keep any rights you may have to pursue claims against DSHS separately. To opt out, you must act by July 22, 2022.
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| Object |
Tell the Court if you do not like the settlement.
If you are not satisfied with the terms of the proposed settlement, you may file a written objection with the Court and/or appear in Court to explain your objections. You cannot both opt out and object to the settlement.
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- Your rights and options – and the deadlines to exercise them – are explained in the notice.
- The Court still has to decide whether to approve the settlement. Payments will be made if the Court approves the settlement and after any appeals are resolved. Please be patient.
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