Williams v. Duke Health Settlement: $3.74M Meta Pixel Case

If you used Duke Health’s online patient tools during a specific three-year window, you may be entitled to a cash payment from the Duke Health Meta Pixel settlement, a $3,743,600 class action resolution that received preliminary court approval in March 2026. Claims are due by August 16, 2026, and can be filed at duhssettlement.com. The case, Williams v. Duke University Health System, Inc., alleged that a Meta Pixel embedded in the Duke MyChart portal and the MyDuke Health app quietly sent patient information to Facebook. Duke Health denies any wrongdoing.

Who Qualifies as a Class Member

The class covers anyone who logged into the Duke MyChart patient portal or the MyDuke Health mobile app at least once between February 18, 2019, and June 17, 2022.¹ A single login during that period is enough. You do not have to show that your specific health information was transmitted to Meta, and you do not have to produce records of what you did on the portal.

The settlement administrator estimates the class at roughly 872,634 people.²

How To File a Claim

You have two options. The faster route is the online claim form at duhssettlement.com. The alternative is a paper form mailed to the settlement administrator, Epiq, at:

Williams v. Duke University Health System, Inc.
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 4214
Portland, OR 97208-4214

Mailed claims must be postmarked by August 16, 2026. Online claims must be submitted by the same date.³

If you do nothing, you get no payment, but you are still bound by the settlement’s release, meaning you give up the right to sue Duke Health over the same allegations.¹

How Much You Can Expect To Receive

The per-person payment has not been set, and it will not be set until the claim period ends. Payments will be pro rata: the fund is divided among everyone who files a valid claim, after deductions. With a class near 872,634, the payment depends heavily on how many people actually claim.

Class counsel has asked the court to approve the following deductions from the $3,743,600 fund:

Attorneys’ fees of up to $1,235,388, or roughly 33 percent of the fund.⁴
Litigation expenses of up to $30,000.³
A $7,500 service award for the named plaintiff, Afrika Williams.³
Notice and administration costs.

The judge has to approve those amounts at the final fairness hearing, and could approve less. Whatever is left is split among valid claimants. The fund is non-reversionary, so no unclaimed money returns to Duke Health; any residue after checks expire goes to a court-approved charity.²

Opting Out or Objecting

If you would rather keep your right to sue Duke Health separately, you can opt out by mailing a request to the settlement administrator, postmarked by July 20, 2026. If you want to stay in the class but tell the court you disagree with the settlement’s terms, you can file a written objection with the court and serve copies on both sides’ attorneys by that same date.¹

What the Case Was About

The lawsuit followed a June 2022 investigation by The Markup, which reported that the Meta Pixel, a snippet of tracking code, was present on password-protected patient portals at several major U.S. hospitals, including Duke Health’s. The code sent data to Facebook when patients took actions on the portal, and could capture information such as health conditions, medications, appointment details, and IP addresses that Meta could match to Facebook profiles.⁵ Duke Health removed the pixel after the investigation.

Afrika Williams filed the surviving federal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Case No. 1:22-cv-00727. In March 2024, Judge Joi Elizabeth Peake dismissed some claims but allowed breach of contract and negligence claims to proceed.⁶ The parties reached agreement in principle at a February 2025 mediation session, and the formal settlement was filed in May 2025.²

Duke Health has consistently denied wrongdoing. A spokesperson said in 2022 that the health system’s own investigation determined it “did not transmit any of its patients’ protected health information to Meta.” The settlement itself states it is not an admission of liability. The only relief is monetary; Duke Health is not required to change any tracking or website practice under the deal.⁶

Remaining Deadlines

July 20, 2026 — deadline to opt out or file a written objection.
August 16, 2026 — deadline to file a claim online or by mail.
August 27, 2026 — final fairness hearing before Judge Joi Elizabeth Peake at 324 W. Market St., Greensboro, North Carolina, at 9:30 a.m.

Payments will not be issued until after final approval, and any appeals could delay distribution further. The settlement administrator will calculate the per-claimant amount once the claim period closes and the court signs off.⁶

1
DUHS Settlement. Williams v. Duke University Health System, Inc., Settlement Home
2
ClassAction.org. Williams v. Duke University Health System, Inc., Settlement Agreement
3
DUHS Settlement. Williams v. Duke University Health System, Inc., FAQs
4
HIPAA Journal. Duke University Health System and Derick Dermatology Pixel Settlements
5
The Markup. Facebook Is Receiving Sensitive Medical Information From Hospital Websites
6
Duke Chronicle. Duke University Health System Class Action Settlement Payouts