UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI, CENTRAL DIVISION If You Own or Owned Land in Missouri Where Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative or KAMO Electric Cooperative Installed Fiber-Optic Cable, A Class Action Lawsuit May Affect Your Rights. A federal court authorized this notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer. The lawsuit claims that Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative and its subsidiary, Sho-Me Technologies, LLC (the Sho-Me Defendants ) and KAMO Electric Cooperative, Inc. and its subsidiary, K-PowerNet, LLC (the KAMO Defendants ) should have obtained permission from landowners before selling capacity on fiber-optic cables to commercial telecommunications customers. The cables are located on the structures that support the electric transmission lines. The Court in charge of this case determined that Defendants committed a trespass and were unjustly enriched at the expense of landowners who have easements containing certain language. The Court decided that there was no wrongdoing for landowners with different easement language. No landowners may recover unless the Plaintiffs are successful in proving damages at trial and any appeals are resolved in their favor. Please be patient. The Sho-Me Defendants and the KAMO Defendants each have their own fiber-optic cable systems. Although the systems interconnect in places, most landowners will have a claim against only one of the two sets of Defendants. The claims against the Sho-Me Power Defendants begin on January 21, 2005. The claims against the KAMO Electric Defendants begin on November 29, 2006. The Court has certified this case as a class action and has appointed lawyers to represent landowners. Your legal rights are affected whether you act or don t act. Please read this notice carefully. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND CHOICES IN THIS LAWSUIT DO NOTHING EXCLUDE YOURSELF Stay in this lawsuit. Be bound by the outcome. Give up certain rights. By doing nothing, you keep the possibility of getting money or benefits that may come from the lawsuit. But, you give up your right to sue the Sho-Me Defendants or the KAMO Defendants separately over the same legal claims in this lawsuit. Get no compensation from this lawsuit. Keep certain rights. If you ask to be excluded and money or benefits are later awarded to landowners, you won t get any. But you ll keep your right to sue the Sho-Me Defendants or the KAMO Defendants separately over the claims in this case. To be excluded, you must act by September 8, 2014. These rights and options and the deadlines to exercise them are explained in this notice. 1
WHAT THIS NOTICE CONTAINS BASIC INFORMATION... PAGE 3 1. Why did I get this notice? 2. What is the lawsuit about? 3. How do the Defendants respond? 4. What is an easement and how do I know if I have one? 5. Why is this a class action? WHO IS IN THE CLASS?... PAGE 4 6. How do I know if I am part of the class action? 7. Are there exceptions to who is included in the Class? 8. What do I do if I know people who are Class Members who did not receive this notice? 9. What should I do if I move? WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I STAY IN THE LAWSUIT?... PAGE 5 10. Will Class Members receive money? 11. What do I have to do if I want to stay in the class action? 12. What do I give up if I stay in the class action? EXCLUDING YOURSELF FROM THIS CLASS ACTION... PAGE 6 13. How do I get out of the class action? THE LAWYERS REPRESENTING YOU... PAGE 6 14. Do I have a lawyer in this case? 15. How will the lawyers be paid? A TRIAL... PAGE 7 16. How and when will the Court decide who is right? 17. Will I get money after the trial? GETTING MORE INFORMATION... PAGE 7 18. How do I get more information? 2
BASIC INFORMATION 1. Why did I get this notice? You may have owned land in Missouri on or after January 21, 2005 over which Sho-Me or KAMO had written easements for electric-transmission lines. The Defendants installed fiber-optic cable on the poles or structures supporting the transmission lines. In addition to using the fiber-optic cables for their electric businesses, Sho-Me and KAMO granted licenses to their telecommunications subsidiaries permitting them to market and sell capacity on the fiber-optic cables for commercial telecommunications services. Commercial telecommunications services include those typically provided by telephone companies or Internet providers. The Court in charge of the case is the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Central Division. The case is known as Barfield v. Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative, No. 2:11-cv-4321. U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey is in charge of the class action. The people who sued are called Plaintiffs, and the companies they sued, Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative, Sho-Me Technologies, LLC, KAMO Electric Cooperative, Inc. and K-PowerNet, LLC, are called Defendants. In this notice, the Defendants are referred to as Sho-Me Defendants, KAMO Defendants, or the Defendants. The Court ordered that this notice be sent to you because you have a right to know about the lawsuit and about all your options before a final determination is made about whether the Defendants had the right to market and sell the fiber-optic cable capacity for commercial telecommunications, and whether damages (money) should be paid to landowners. The Court has already made a decision that Defendants have trespassed on certain landowners land and that Defendants were unjustly enriched but the Court has not decided the amount of any damages. 2. What is the lawsuit about? The lawsuit claims two electric cooperatives exceeded the scope of easements granted for electrictransmission lines. The issue in this lawsuit is whether the Defendants needed to obtain new easements (besides the written electric easements they already had) from landowners to permit the Defendants to use the fiber-optic cables for commercial telecommunications. For an explanation of the term easement, see Question 4. The Plaintiffs asked the Court to rule that the Defendants do not have the right to use the land for commercial telecommunications without paying for new easements. They are also asking for an award of money damages to eligible Missouri landowners for the commercial telecommunications use. Plaintiffs do not challenge Defendants right to install, use, or maintain the fiber-optic cables for electric purposes. There are no claims for physical property damage relating to the installation or maintenance of the cables. The Plaintiffs are not seeking to have the Defendants fiber-optic cables removed from Class Members land. 3. How do the Defendants respond? The Sho-Me Defendants and the KAMO Defendants deny these claims and deny that they have done anything wrong. The Defendants contend they were expressly allowed by the existing easements to sell fiber-optic capacity. They further contend that the challenged sales involve the 3
transmission of invisible light signals inside of cables that have no effect on landowners properties. The Court agreed with some arguments of the Plaintiffs and with some arguments of the Defendants and concluded that Defendants actions were wrongful depending on the type of easement language the landowners had. Certain pleadings filed by the Defendants and Plaintiffs and certain court rulings in this case are available at www.missouriclass.com. 4. What is an easement and how do I know if I have one? An easement is a right held by one party to use land owned by the other party in the way stated in the easement. There are a number of different types of language used in the easements covered by this class action. It is possible that Class Members with one type of easement language might prevail while other Class Members with a different type of easement language might not. You do not need to find a copy of your easement to be a Class Member. The attorneys appointed to represent all Class Members have already obtained copies of all the easements from the Defendants. But if you would like to know whether you have an electric easement on your property that is owned either by Sho-Me or KAMO, it should be indicated in the public records for your property. 5. Why is this a class action? In a class action, one or more people, called Class Representatives, sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people with similar claims are called a Class and the individuals are called Class Members. One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class. WHO IS IN THE CLASS? 6. How do I know if I am part of the class action? The Class includes: Anyone who owns or owned land in Missouri underlying Defendants electric-transmission lines that has an easement with either Defendant or their subsidiaries, and Where a Defendant has licensed the fiber-optic cable for commercial-telecommunication uses or has used the fiber-optic cable for commercial-telecommunication uses. This notice was mailed to people who requested it or who were listed in county tax records as the current owners of the land under a Defendant s electric-transmission lines where fiber-optic cable was installed. You are a member of the Class if you own or co-own (or formerly owned or coowned) covered land on or after January 21, 2005 (for the Sho-Me Defendants) or November 29, 2006 (for the KAMO Defendants) in the following Missouri counties: Sho-Me: Barry, Camden, Crawford, Dallas, Dent, Douglas, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Howell, Laclede, Maries, Miller, Oregon, Ozark, Phelps, Pulaski, Shannon, Texas, Washington, Webster, and Wright. 4
KAMO: Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Camden, Cass, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Henry, Hickory, Jackson, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Polk, St. Clair, Stone, Taney, and Vernon. 7. Are there exceptions to who is included in the Class? You are not a Class Member if: Your property is subject to a Sho-Me Power electric transmission easement that includes a clause requiring arbitration of disputes. You own (or owned) land where the fiber-optic cable is only installed on or under public streets or highways. You receive commercial telecommunications directly from Defendants fiber-optic cable. Also excluded from the Class are the Defendants, their employees, all local, state, and federal governments and their agencies, any Indian tribe, and the trial judge. 8. What do I do if I know people who are Class Members who did not receive this notice? Landowners who currently appear in the tax records were included in the mailing list. If you are a Class Member, then the people who sold you your property (or to whom you sold your property) may also be members of the Class. This notice will also be mailed to anyone who requests it. If you received this notice and believe you know other people who are Class Members who did not receive a notice, please ask them to request a copy of the notice by calling 1-888-959-0460, by sending a message to settlements@straupsolutions.com by visiting www.missouriclass.com, or by writing to: Missouri Class Litigation, P.O. Box 222118, Dallas, TX 75222. 9. What should I do if I move? If you move after receiving this notice, please send a letter with your new address to the address listed above. In addition, if you sell the land that is included in the Class, please send the name of the person who purchased your property to the address listed above. WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I STAY IN THE LAWSUIT? 10. Will Class Members receive money? No money or benefits are available now because the Court has not yet decided how much should be awarded to Class Members who have a right to recover under the Court s rulings. There is no guarantee that money or benefits will ever be obtained. If they are, you will be notified about how to ask for a share. 11. What do I have to do if I want to stay in the class action? If you want to participate in this class action, you do not need to do anything now. If you are a Class Member (as defined in Questions 6 and 7) and you do not exclude yourself from the Class (see Question 13), you will automatically be a member of the Class. As a Class Member, you will 5
be entitled to get additional notices about the case if the Court directs that additional notices be sent to the Class. 12. What do I give up if I stay in the class action? If you stay in the class action, you will not be able to sue the Defendants on your own for the claims that have been made in the lawsuit. You will be bound by the Court s decisions in this case, whether that judgment is favorable or not. By giving up your right to bring a separate lawsuit, you will also give up the right to argue for higher money damages for your property than the per foot damages that the Class Representatives think are best. However, you will share in any benefit(s) the Class Members with your type of easement get from a judgment of the Court. EXCLUDING YOURSELF FROM THIS CLASS ACTION If you do not want to be bound by the result of the lawsuit or if you want to keep the right to sue the Defendants on your own about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out. This is called excluding yourself from or is sometimes referred to as opting out of the Class. 13. How do I get out of the class action? To exclude yourself from the class action, you must mail a letter saying that you want to be excluded from Barfield v. Sho-Me. Be sure to include: Your name, address, and telephone number, The location of all property that you think makes you a Class Member, and Your signature. You must mail your exclusion request, postmarked no later than September 8, 2014, to: Missouri Class Litigation, P.O. Box 222118, Dallas, TX 75222. If you exclude yourself, you will not share in a judgment that awards money to Class Members with your type of claim. 14. Do I have a lawyer in this case? THE LAWYERS REPRESENTING YOU The Court has appointed lawyers to represent you and other Class Members. These lawyers are called Class Counsel. Kathleen C. Kauffman Cecilia Fex Michael Amberg ACKERSON KAUFFMAN FEX, PC 1701 K Street, NW, Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20006 Henry J. Price Ronald J. Waicukauski Brad Catlin PRICE WAICUKAUSKI & RILEY, LLC 301 Massachusetts Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46204 6
Dale Doerhoff Heidi Doerhoff Vollet COOK, VETTER, DOERHOFF & LANDWEHR, P.C. 231 Madison Street Jefferson City, MO 65101 Fred O Neill Route # 1 Box 116A Myrtle, MO 65778 You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense. 15. How will the lawyers be paid? The Court will decide how much Class Counsel will be paid. Class Members will not have to pay money directly for the costs of the lawsuit or for attorneys fees. If money is awarded to the Class, Class Counsel will ask the Court for a portion of the award for their attorneys fees and legal costs. A TRIAL 16. How and when will the Court decide who is right? The Class Representatives will have to prove the amount of money damages at a trial that is currently scheduled for September 22, 2014. There is no guarantee that the Class Representatives will win any money or benefits for the Class. 17. Will I get money after the trial? If the Class Representatives obtain money or benefits for the Class, you will be notified about how to ask for a share or what your other options are at that time. Some Class Members may be entitled to money or benefits and others may not be depending on the language of their easements. There is no guarantee that money or benefits will ever be obtained. Important information about the case will be posted on the website www.missouriclass.com as it becomes available. 18. How do I get more information? GETTING MORE INFORMATION You can visit the website at www.missouriclass.com, where you will find answers to common questions about the class action and other information to help you determine whether you are a Class Member. If you still have questions, you can call 1-888-959-0460 toll-free or write to Missouri Class Litigation, P.O. Box 222118, Dallas, TX 75222. Please do not contact the Court for further information. 7