‘Flushable’ wipes settlement

MANHATTAN — The Second Circuit vacated a New York federal court’s approval of a class settlement involving “flushable” wipes sold by Kimberly-Clark, which allegedly caused the customers plumbing problems. The lower court is instructed to make a tandem analysis of class relief and attorney fees that compares what proportion of the total recovery was given to the class and how much was given to their counsel. Without addressing whether the settlement was unfair, the court notes that class members received less than $1 million of the roughly $20 million set aside by the corporation for class recovery.