Ask HN: Should I participate in class actions?
Every once in a while I get an email or letter asking me to participate in a class action lawsuit. I’m never quite clear on what’s involved on my end, but the payouts always seem incredibly paltry And not worth the time involved in filling out the paperwork. Am I wrong? What do other people do? I just end up throwing them out.
I never bother with them personally. What you're giving up (I think, not a lawyer here) is the right to sue the defendant for the same thing privately. Although it's unlikely you would ever do that, you're not really getting much in exchange for giving up that right, so why bother?