Charities share $1.4 million from 'junk fax' settlement

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Two dozen charitable groups around St. Louis will share nearly $1.4 million of the $6.5 million settlement from a lawsuit over an auto dealership's advertisements faxed to more than 33,000 numbers.

The list of charities was approved by St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael J. O'Malley, who supervised the negotiations and last summer's settlement involving Newbold Toyota-BMW in O'Fallon, Ill. Distribution began Friday.

So-called "junk faxes," which are barred by federal law, went out for the dealership to 33,108 numbers in the 314 and 636 area codes around St. Louis from Jan. 25 to Feb. 22 of 2001, according to court documents.

The $6.5 million settlement represented the cap on the dealer's insurance coverage.

By law, recipients of unsolicited faxed advertising may collect up to $500 from the sender.

Steven Katz, who filed the class-action lawsuit, has said the dealership's owners did not know the practice was illegal when they hired a company to do the advertising. Under the settlement, the dealership admitted no wrongdoing.

The company that sent the faxes, American Blast Fax of Dallas, is now out of business.

The charity recipients of the $1.4 million were chosen by the lead lawyer for each side -- Katz, who works for a Swansea-based firm specializing in class-action lawsuits, and Newbold Toyota-BMW attorney Gordon Broom of Edwardsville.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri in St. Louis and the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in East St. Louis, Ill., each will get $137,250. Twenty-two other organizations will receive $50,000 apiece, including Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, United Way, women and children's shelters, and Catholic charities.

Katz's firm and two St. Louis law firms that helped with the case were awarded 25 percent of the total settlement, a total of just over $1.6 million.