Models Win $21 Million in Lawsuit, Must Donate $2 Million to Charity

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed)
Jan 4th 2010 at 8:01PM

The New York Daily News reported last week that five women's charities -- including an eating disorder program -- will share $2 million from a class-action settlement with major modeling agencies, as ordered by a federal judge. The money is what is left over after thousands of aspiring and established models got their share of a $21 million settlement with the agencies, including Wilhelmina, Ford and Click. The models sued in 2002, claiming the agencies fixed prices. A settlement was reached in 2005, but legal disputes delayed the final payouts. Manhattan Federal Judge Harold Baer originally ruled that after the models and their lawyers were paid, the remaining $6 million would be divvied up among the charities. The models and their lawyers appealed his decision, and after recalculating the payouts, a $2 million pool was left. Baer signed a final order that included $347,826 for Columbia University's eating disorders program and $173,913 for its heroin detox program. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute will receive $86,956 for its "Heart Truth" campaign and New York University School of Medicine will receive $347,826 for two heart research studies aimed at women.

Tags: charities, charity, justice, lawsuit, legal, model, models