Vancouver tech company ZoomInfo disclosed to investors Monday the company has proposed settling putative class-action lawsuits for an estimated $26 million to $29 million.
Two such lawsuits alleged the company used Illinois and California residents’ names in public facing webpages. ZoomInfo offers sales, marketing and operations software systems that integrate its proprietary business data, such as names and contact information.
The first lawsuit was filed April 15, 2021, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, claiming ZoomInfo violated the Illinois Right of Publicity Act. The second lawsuit was filed Sept. 30, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, claiming ZoomInfo violated California statutory and common law regarding the right of publicity and misappropriation.
“These claims concern the way we inform the market about our product via public online directory pages and are unrelated to our product quality or data privacy practices,” said ZoomInfo in a statement Tuesday.
“We continue to believe that our practices comply with state law and are protected by the First Amendment,” the statement said. “However, we join many of our peers in concluding that further litigation on this subject is an undue distraction to our business and product teams.”
The company said it will change its public directory pages in connection with the resolution. But it maintains the changes will not impact its customer experience.
ZoomInfo disclosed Monday the company entered into a memorandum of understanding Feb. 24 with plaintiffs in the Illinois case.
If the settlement is approved, it would resolve the Illinois and California cases, as well as unfiled cases in Indiana and Nevada, according to Monday’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
In the memorandum, the company has agreed to pay 3 percent of statutory damages to each eligible class member in all four states, totaling an estimated $26 million to $29 million.
The settlement must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, according to Monday’s filing.
ZoomInfo brought in $1.24 billion in revenue last year.
The company trades on the Nasdaq as ZI. Its stock closed Tuesday at $17.29 per share, up from its Monday closing price of $16.95 per share.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to add ZoomInfo’s comments received after deadline.
