A class action lawsuit against Author Solutions Inc. has been settled and discontinued.
Filed in April 2013 by law firm Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart, LLP against ASI and its parent company, Penguin Group, the suit alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, various violations of the California Business and Professional Code, and violation of New York General Business Law. Penguin was later dismissed from the case, along with some–but not all–of the claims against ASI.
The case proceeded to discovery, and in February of this year Giskan Solotaroff filed for class certification. On July 1, Judge Denise Cote denied certification. The parties then proceeded to settlement, which apparently has been reached, because on August 12, Judge Cote ordered the case to be discontinued.
It having been reported to the Court that this case has been settled, it is hereby ORDERED that the above-captioned action is hereby discontinued without costs to any party and without prejudice to restoring the action to this Court’s calendar if the application to restore the action is made within forty-five days.
The terms of the settlement have not been released. PW has more.
ASI is not clear of legal actions, however. Another lawsuit was filed in Indiana in March of this year, also by Giskan Solotaroff, with similar claims of fraud and unjust enrichment. According to Sarah Weinman, writing in Publishers Lunch (subscription required), this suit has been consolidated with another into a single case. Weinman notes:
Back in April, after the second suit was filed in Indiana, Oren Giskan told us the Indiana cases were filed “because we came to understand that all of the claims we wished to have resolved could only be done in the State of Indiana,” where ASI has their headquarters.
UPDATE 9/15: The Indiana lawsuit has also been dismissed. From PW:
A brief notice filed September 14 showed the case against Author Solutions in Indiana was voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice, with the parties agreeing to end litigation and to pay their own costs and attorney fees.
Buying someone out with all the ill gotten gains of Author Solutions does not mean the judge resolved without finding of wrong doing it means the victims settled for money rather than the full punishment Author Solutions deserved.
Lol at the thieves from Author Solutions calling a site that protects people a "verbally abusive site" well I guess when it threatens you making more money from your scams from scamming you'd be mad. Author Solutions steals from the elderly and disabled and lies about a money back guarentee. They took thousands from an elderly man without ever even printing out his book and they've done that kind of thing and worse to thousands.
I can't believe Google allows this verbally abusive site to continue. I predict their stocks will drop if they keep it up long enough. Karma has its way in the universe.
UPDATE: Following the Denial of Class Certification by New York Judge, New York and Indiana Class Actions Against Author Solutions are Resolved Without Any Finding of Wrongdoing
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150915006019/en/Denial-Class-Certification-York-Judge-York-Indiana#.VfrLPhFViko
Just to give a little background on the Indiana thing:
All of the Author Solutions imprints – with the sole exception of iUniverse – have Indiana venue clauses in their author contracts. This means that the NYC case (the one above which was just settled) was limited to iUniverse plaintiffs/evidence. Also, the sole NYC-based plaintiff dropped out of the action earlier this year which really limited what the lawyers could do and the judge could rule on. The second Indiana-based class action will be much wider in scope and thus (hopefully) should have a better chance of succeeding.