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Six Flags has agreed to allow its monthly members more months to visit their theme parks for free, under a deal to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the amusement park operator of improperly collecting monthly membership fees from people across the country, while their parks were closed for much of 2020 amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawyers who brought the lawsuit could receive up to $1.2 million under the deal.
In October 2020, attorneys with the firms of KamberLaw, with offices in Chicago and Denver, and Bursor & Fisher, of Walnut Creek, California, filed a class action lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Six Flags.
Yeremy Krivoshey
| Bursor & Fisher
They brought the suit on behalf of named plaintiff Ryan Strassburger, of Chicago.
According to the lawsuit, Strassburger, like many others across the country, said he held a membership with Six Flags since 2019. Under the arrangement, members, like Strassburger, would pay monthly and then are allowed access to any of Six Flags’ 26 theme parks in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, for no additional fee.
According to the complaint, Strassburger purchased the plan primarily to visit the Six Flags Great America theme park in north suburban Gurnee.
However, just before the start of the spring and summer 2020 operating season, Six Flags closed all of its theme parks, and did not open Great America, in response to the onset of the COVID pandemic. In many of its locations, the parks were ordered closed by governors, including in Illinois, by Gov. JB Pritzker.
While many Six Flags parks ultimately reopened during the summer, Great America remained closed throughout 2020.
However, throughout 2020, Six Flags continued to collect monthly payments, taking fees ranging from $7.85 to $42 per month, depending on the membership plan chosen, which can include an array of benefits and perks, in addition to free admission.
The plaintiffs sought to expand the action to include potentially hundreds of thousands of Six Flags members nationwide.
After about 11 months of litigation, the two sides announced a deal.
Under the settlement, Six Flags would agree to give its current and former members free admission to the park and access to their membership benefits, plus potential other perks, for varying lengths of time.
The value of the benefits would be determined based on whether those members had kept their memberships active; had “paused” their memberships, in cooperation with Six Flags; or had cancelled their memberships, during the period of March 13, 2020, to Sept. 10, 2021.
Those with active or paused memberships would receive “one free month of membership for each month they were charged” while their home park remained closed, during 2020, or a Six Flags “gift card in the amount of the monthly membership charges that can be used at any (Six Flags) park in the U.S.”
Active and paused members would also receive “upgraded membership status,” to a higher tier, with more benefits and perks.
Members who cancelled their memberships would receive “a complimentary admission ticket for each six months they were charged” during the pandemic period, as defined in the settlement agreement.
Anyone who had received a refund during the pandemic period covered by the settlement agreement would be ineligible to receive any of the settlement proceeds.
The settlement documents posted to date do not estimate a cash value for the benefits Six Flags could provide to members under the deal.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs have not yet formally requested attorney fees from the court. However, in settlement documents posted, they indicate they could request up to $1.2 million in fees and to cover their litigation costs. That request will come in a later filing.
Plaintiffs’ counsel is led by attorney Yeremy Krivoshey, of Bursor & Fisher.
For now, Cook County Circuit Judge Sophia Hall granted preliminary approval to the settlement on Sept. 10.
A final approval hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15.
Six Flags is represented by attorney Zoe K. Wilhelm, of the firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, of Los Angeles.