Massachusetts Superior Court Grants Preliminary Approval of a Proposed $3,000,000 Settlement in LaChapelle v. PeoplesBank and Appoints McLaughlin & Stern as Co-Lead Class Counsel

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018, Judge Constance M. Sweeney granted preliminary approval of a proposed $3,000,000 settlement in LaChapelle, et. al. v. PeoplesBank, et. al. (1679-cv-00906 Massachusetts Superior Court, Hampden County), a consumer class action. Plaintiff, Craig LaChapelle, alleged that he, and all other similarly affected PeoplesBank customers, were monetarily damaged when PeoplesBank canceled its “Guaranteed Savings Account” product (“GSA”) in 2016. The GSA product was first offered in 2009 with the promise that the interest rate would never drop below 1.50%. PeoplesBank, however, unilaterally opted to close all GSA’s and either pay customers whatever money was in their GSA at that time, or roll their money over into a different, non-guaranteed interest, account. This resulted in lost interest to consumers with GSA’s and formed the basis of the monetary damage allegations.

If approved by the Superior Court (as required by class action rules), the settlement will require PeoplesBank to pay $3,000,000 into a settlement fund to pay: (i) Settlement Class members’ claims; (ii) costs of settlement administration; (iii) court-approved attorneys’ fees and costs; and (iv) a court-approved service reward to Mr. LaChapelle in recognition of his contribution in prosecuting the class action.

A hearing for final approval of the settlement is scheduled in the Massachusetts Superior Court, Hampden County, before Judge Sweeney on January 22, 2019 at 9:00 am.

About McLaughlin & Stern, LLP (“M&S”)

M&S, LLP handles a broad range of individual and class actions on behalf of consumers who have suffered monetary damages. If you are a current or former customer of PeoplesBank who enrolled in the GSA product and would like to know more about the action and how it relates to you, please contact Plaintiff’s counsel at your convenience:

Lee S. Shalov, Esq. (lshalov@mclaughlinstern.com)
Wade C. Wilkinson, Esq. (wwilkinson@mclaughlinstern.com)
Telephone: 212-448-1100