United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Case No. 1:16-CV-00696
Important Note (January 31, 2022) – Please be advised that a Motion has been submitted to the Court to approve a second distribution of funds remaining due to uncashed checks and unclaimed funds. You can review those documents here. Checks will be distributed to Class Members who were approved for payment in the initial distribution, cashed their check, and would not have received their full pro rata payment already. You may look up whether you will be receiving a payment and also the amount by Class Member ID here. There are three tabs. The first tab is for those who will be receiving a payment and had both supply and equipment purchases; the second tab is for those who will be receiving a payment and just had equipment purchases; and the third tab is for those whose initial payment fulfilled their pro rata payment in the initial distribution.
Important Note (October 13, 2020) - Please be advised that final claim determinations, payment calculations, and mailing of distribution checks have been completed in the In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Settlement. Please allow at least two weeks for delivery. Plaintiffs' Counsel had filed a Motion with the Court to request approval for distribution. You may review the Order and Motion on this website on the ‘Documents’ page. Additionally, you may look up your payment amount by Class Member ID here. Note there are two tabs in this file, the first tab is for those who had both supply and equipment purchases, and the second tab is for those with equipment purchases only.
Important Update: The Final Approval Hearing was held on June 24, 2019, and Final Approval was granted and filed on June 25, 2019. An appeal of this Order was filed on July 18, 2019. Mailing of personalized Purchase History Forms, which will include totals of Defendants' data of purchases of Dental Supplies and/or Equipment to those who have registered, will occur once the appeal has been resolved. Only registered Class Members will be mailed a Purchase History Form. Once you receive your Purchase History Form, if you agree with Defendants' records, you will be asked to sign and submit the Purchase History Form and will not need to provide further information. If you do not agree with Defendants' records, you will be required to submit your Purchase History Form and supply documentation to support your claimed purchases. If you require further information or have additional questions, you can submit an email through the Contactsection of this website.
Important Message:It has come to our attention that solicitation for information and/or assistance to file a claim in the Dental Supplies Antitrust Class Action is being made by multiple "claims assistance companies," and through the website "dentalclaim dot org" in association with Budyonny Law Group ("BLG"). Class Counsel, the Court, and the Claims Administrator are not affiliated with those companies, nor that website nor that law firm. Please note that these are third-parties who are attempting to file your claim for a fee. The use of any third-party filer is not necessary in this action as the Claims Administrator can answer any questions regarding the registration process or the filing of a claim. Providing information to those companies, "dentalclaim dot org" or BLG is not submitting a claim or registration in the Dental Supplies Antitrust Class Action, which can only be done through the Claims Administrator and the Court-approved process available on this website or through the mail.
April 16, 2019 - Important Note: The Court has Ordered a change in the deadlines for filing an exclusion or objection, along with filing a claim. The date of the Final Approval Hearing has also moved. A copy of the Order can be found in the Documents section of this website. Below are the key updated deadlines:
Exclusion and Objection deadline - May 13, 2019.
Final Approval Hearing date - June 14, 2019 at 12pm. Same location.
Claim Registration Deadline - October 15, 2019.
March 14, 2019 - Please Note: The Long Form Notice originally posted to this website contained a typographical error. The answer to Question #11 on page 6 of the Long Form Notice, “How will the lawyers be paid?”, contained wording that Class Counsel will seek expenses “not to exceed $3,500,000.” That figure should have been “not to exceed $5,000,000.” The Long Form Notice has been corrected and updated in the Documents section of this website.
If you purchased dental supplies or equipment from Henry Schein, Patterson, Benco Dental Supply, or Burkhart Dental Supply, an $80 million class action settlement may affect you.
A federal court preliminary approved the Settlement. You are not being sued. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
• There is a class action lawsuit known as In re Dental Supplies Antitrust Litigation, No 16-cv-00696, against Henry Schein, Inc. (“Schein”), Patterson Companies, Inc. (“Patterson”), and Benco Dental Supply Company (“Benco”) (collectively, “Defendants”), pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
• The Settlement at issue is for the benefit of a Class of persons and entities defined as follows: All persons or entities that purchased Dental Products directly from Schein, Patterson, Benco, Burkhart, or any combination thereof, during the period beginning August 31, 2008 through and including March 31, 2016 (the “Class Period”) (the “Class” or the “Settlement Class”). If you fall within the Settlement Class definition, you are a “Settlement Class Member.”
• Under the proposed Settlement, Defendants – who each continue to categorically and emphatically deny the allegations and claims in the litigation, but have agreed to the Settlement to resolve the case – have collectively agreed to pay $80 million to resolve all of the claims that were brought or could have been brought in the antitrust suit on behalf of the Settlement Class (the “Settlement”).
• Burkhart Dental Supply Company (“Burkhart”) was at one time named as a defendant in this lawsuit, but the case was subsequently dismissed against Burkhart on personal jurisdiction grounds. Because Burkhart is no longer a defendant in this action, it is not paying any portion of the Settlement funds or otherwise participating in the Settlement. This does not, however, affect the ability of any class members who were Burkhart customers to participate in the Settlement.
• The Settlement offers cash payments to Settlement Class Members who file valid timely Claims.
YOUR
LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT
EXCLUDE
YOURSELF
You
may request to be excluded from the Settlement, and if you do, you will
receive no paymentfromtheSettlement.ThedeadlinetoexcludeyourselffromtheSettlementisMay 13, 2019.ExcludingyourselffromtheSettlementistheonlywaytoretainyourrighttosue
Defendants on your own over the claims alleged in thelawsuit.
OBJECT
WritetotheCourtifyouwanttocommentonordonotliketheSettlement.Youmustprovide specificreasonsforyourobjection.See FAQ 6 for more information. The postmarked deadline to
object is May 13,2019.
GO TO THE FAIRNESS HEARING
The Court has scheduled a hearing to evaluate the fairness
of the Settlement and Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees,
reimbursement of costs, and incentive awards for the named Plaintiffs to take
place on June 14, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. (the “Fairness Hearing”). You may attend
the hearingatyourownexpense,butitisnotnecessary.Youmayasktospeakincourtaboutthe fairnessoftheSettlementoranyawardoffeesorcostsoranyawardofserviceawardsifyou did not exclude
yourself, but you must first notify counsel for the Class, counsel for the
Defendants, and the Court by May 13, 2019. See FAQ13-15.
SUBMIT
A CLAIM
IftheCourtapprovestheSettlementanditbecomesfinalandeffective,andyouremaininthe Settlement Class,
you must register online or through the mail by October 15, 2019
to receive a payment. After registering by October 15, 2019, mailing of personalized Purchase History Forms, which will include totals of Defendants' data of purchases of Dental Supplies and/or Equipment to those who have registered, will occur once the appeal has been resolved. Only registered Class Members will be mailed a Purchase History Form. Once you receive your Purchase History Form, if you agree with Defendants' records, you will be asked to sign and submit the Purchase History Form and will not need to provide further information. If you do not agree with Defendants' records, you will be required to submit your Purchase History Form and supply documentation to support your claimed purchases. If you require further information or have additional questions, you can submit an email through the 'Contact' section of this website.
• These rights and options, and the deadlines to exercise them, are explained in the Long Form Notice and the FAQS section.
• The Court in charge of this case still must decide whether to approve the Settlement. If it does, and after any appeals are resolved, payments will be distributed to those who submit qualifying Claims. Please be patient.
This website is authorized by the Court, supervised by counsel and controlled by the Settlement Administrator approved by the Court. This is the only authorized website for this case.
Contact us with any inquiries, comments, and/or requests.
Important Dates
Purchase Confirmation Forms Deadline
Friday, January 31, 2020
Purchase Confirmation Forms must be completed and returned postmarked no later than January 31, 2020.
Claim Registration Deadline.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
You must register online no later than October 15, 2019, or mail your completed registration postcard so that it is postmarked no later than October 15, 2019.
Final Approval Hearing Date.
Monday, June 24, 2019
The Final Approval/Fairness Hearing previously set for Friday, June 14, 2019 has been reset to Monday, June 24, 2019 at 4:30 PM in Courtroom 8D South.
Exclusion Deadline.
Monday, May 13, 2019
You must complete and mail your request for exclusion so that it is postmarked no later than May 13, 2019.
Objection Deadline.
Monday, May 13, 2019
You must mail your objection(s) and/or notice of intent to appear at the Final Approval Hearing so that it/they are postmarked no later than May 13, 2019.
Fees and Expense Deadline.
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Counsel submitted their motion for attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service awards for the class representatives on March 22, 2019. These documents are available in the ‘Documents’ section of this website.
