BBB Institute and Cy Pres Awards
A trustworthy marketplace occurs when consumers, particularly vulnerable populations, are empowered to protect themselves and make wise buying and investing decisions and when businesses deliver their products and services with integrity. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been working to empower consumers and uplift trustworthy businesses for more than 100 years. This proven history of success makes BBB Institute an ideal recipient of cy pres awards that are focused on improving marketplace conditions by expanding consumer education and encouraging business best practices.
Our cy pres work covers a wide range of consumer and business-related issues such as digital literacy, scam/fraud prevention, mitigating bias in the digital space, and identifying questionable claims in advertising. With our network of BBBs across the U.S. and Canada, we provide educational programs for a wide range of consumer groups, including the military, veterans, students, seniors, and many others.
A few examples of our work supported with cy pres funding are listed below:
Beck-Ellman v. Kaz
Case No. 3:10-CV-02134-H-DHB (S.D. Cal. 2013)
In the settlement of a class action alleging violations of state unfair competition and advertising laws, and breach of warranties under state law and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Court found that BBB Institute was an appropriate cy pres recipient because BBB demonstrated its dedication to protecting consumers from injuries caused by false advertising. Thanks to these funds, BBB Institute spread awareness about confusing or misleading advertising claims to more than 217 million people through a public service campaign and created the BBB AdTruth reporting tool to enable consumers to identify and report problematic ads.
Fitzhenry-Russell v. The Coca-Cola Company
Case No. 5:17-CV-00603-EJD (N.D. Cal. 2020)
The settlement of a class action alleging that product labeling violated state consumer protection acts named BBB Institute as one of two cy pres recipients. The Court found that BBB Institute was an appropriate cy pres recipient for its work in educating and helping consumers so that they can make informed purchasing decisions. BBB Institute will use these funds to expand the work it is doing to spread awareness about scams and potentially misleading advertisements.
Kearney v. Equilon Enterprises LLC
Case No. 3:14-cv-00254-HZ (D. Ore. 2016)
BBB Institute, under its prior corporate name, BBB Center, was named as one of two recipients of remaining funds in the settlement of a class action alleging that a sales promotion violated certain state consumer protection and other statutes.
Contact Us
We know you have many options when it comes to cy pres recipients. We hope you will consider BBB Institute as a nominee for cy pres funds. If you have any questions about BBB Institute’s work to empower consumers and support responsible businesses, please contact Melissa Lanning at mlanning@iabbb.org.