Minnesota Schools to Receive More Than $55 Million to Purchase New Computer Hardware and Software

Richard Hagstrom and Daniel Hume, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Minnesota Microsoft antitrust lawsuit, announced today that Minnesota’s public and charter schools will receive more than $55 million in vouchers to be used to purchase new computer hardware and software. The money is part of a $182 million settlement in a class action suit against Microsoft Corporation alleging that Microsoft overcharged Minnesota consumers and businesses for certain of its products.

Under terms of the 2004 court-approved settlement, any consumer or business who purchased certain Microsoft software for use in Minnesota during the Class Period was eligible to receive vouchers for varying dollar amounts to purchase any new computer hardware or software. More than 100,000 Minnesota consumers and businesses claimed more than $63 million of the available settlement. “This is an example of how consumers benefit from class actions,” explained attorney Hagstrom.

One-half of the value of the unclaimed vouchers, more than $55 million, has been made available to the Department of Education and the public and charter schools it serves. More than 2,100 public and charter schools will receive vouchers, varying in dollar amounts from several hundred dollars to $6.3 million. “We are pleased to have been able to negotiate this award to the Minnesota Department of Education as part of the settlement. It is our hope that these vouchers will enhance technology in our classrooms for years to come,” said attorney Hagstrom.

The voucher amount available to each public or charter school was based upon its percentage of the state’s total free and reduced price lunch eligible students. Vouchers can be redeemed for over 1,500 eligible products from numerous companies, not just from Microsoft. “Schools will have until January 27, 2012 to redeem their vouchers,” explained attorney Hume.

In addition, the settlement provided a $2.5 million cash payment and $2.5 million in vouchers to the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology for the creation of the Consortium for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Under the settlement, Microsoft provided $2.5 million in cash to the Minnesota Legal Aid Society on February 11, 2005.

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