ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020023
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A court-approved settlement announced Thursday would provide as much as $68 million in cash and products to contact lens wearers who claimed Bausch & Lomb cheated them.
As many as 1.5 million buyers of the company's disposable lenses could receive payments ranging from a few dollars to as much as $100 each under the agreement, a plaintiff's lawyer said.
A class action suit filed in 1994 claimed the company sold the same product under four different brand names at widely varying prices, defrauding some customers who paid more in the belief they were getting different lenses.
While admitting no wrongdoing, Bausch & Lomb agreed to make as much $34 million in cash payments to consumers, said spokeswoman Holly Echols. The company will provide the same amount in free products including contact lenses, sunglasses and skin-care items.
The company's actual cost could be less.
``Experience in other class actions has shown that not everyone who is eligible to file a claim will file a claim, and not all of the claims that are submitted will be valid,'' Echols said from the company's Rochester, N.Y., headquarters.
The average lens wearer would receive $50 to $100 in cash and coupons, depending on how many lenses they bought, said plaintiff's attorney Fredric L. Ellis of Boston.
``I think this settlement reflects a vindication of the right of consumers to know what they are getting when they buy a product,'' Ellis said.
U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon granted preliminary approval Wednesday and scheduled a Nov. 26 hearing to determine the fairness of the agreement.
Bausch & Lomb agreed to pay as much as $8 million in attorneys' fees in addition to the payments to consumers, Ellis said.
A statement by Bausch & Lomb said the company agreed to the deal ``in order to focus on moving the company forward'' rather than having to deal with protracted litigation.
The company said it would record a charge against third-quarter earnings totaling $10 million after taxes, equal to 18 cents per share of common stock.
Ellis said Bausch & Lomb wrongly sold its SeeQuence 2 lens under different brand names, including Medalist, Optima FW and Criterion Ultra FW. Retail prices ranged from $4 per lens to $25 a lens and were based on how often the lenses were supposed to be replaced, he said.
Under the settlement, anyone who bought a Medalist, Optima or Criterion lens from 1990 through April would be eligible for refunds ranging from $2.68 in cash and coupons per lens to $10.66 per lens.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: chart - FILING FACTSby CNBDeadline for claims: Feb. 1, 1997
To get claims forms, call (800) 392-0581;
or write to P.O. Box 371248, Birmingham, Ala., 35237-1248.