Case Information
*1 ACKERMAN & TILAJEF, P.C. CRAIG J. ACKERMANN (SBN 229832) cja@ackermanntilajef.com 1180 South Beverly Drive, Suite 610 Los Angeles, California 90035 Telephone: (310) 277-0614 Facsimile: (310) 277-0635 MELMED LAW GROUP P.C. JONATHAN MELMED (SBN 290218) jm@melmedlaw.com 1180 South Beverly Drive, Suite 610 Los Angeles, California 90035 Telephone:(310) 824-3828 Facsimile: (310) 862-6851 Attorneys for Plaintiff and the Putative Settlement Class
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA CASE NO. 1:18-cv-00658-BAM RICHARD MARTINEZ, an individual, on behalf of the State of California, as a private ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY attorney general,
APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Plaintiff, (Doc. Nos. 21, 27) v. E & A PROTECTIVE SERVICES-BRAVO, Date: August 1, 2019 LLC, a Virginia Limited Liability Company;
Time: 9:00 a.m. and DOES 1 to 10, inclusive, Judge: Hon. Barbara McAuliffe Dept.: Courtroom 8, 6 th Floor
Defendants. Action Filed: May 14, 2018 FAC Filed: November 6, 2018
The Motion for Preliminary Approval of a Class Action Settlement came before this Court on August 1, 2019, the Honorable Barbara A. McAuliffe presiding. The Court, having considered the motion and the papers submitted in support thereof, HEREBY ORDERS THE FOLLOWING:
1. The Court grants preliminary approval of the Settlement and the Settlement Class 27 based upon the terms set forth in the Joint Stipulation of Settlement and Release of Class Action 28 (“Settlement Agreement”) filed with the Declaration of Craig J. Ackermann on March 19, 2019, *2 and the Addendum to Joint Stipulation of Settlement and Release of Class Action (“Addendum”) filed with the Supplemental Declaration of Craig J. Ackermann on April 19, 2019. (Doc. Nos. 21-3, 27-1.) All terms used herein shall have the same meaning as defined in the Settlement Agreement and Addendum. The settlement set forth in the Settlement Agreement and Addendum appears to be fair, adequate and reasonable to the Class.
2. The Court finds that for settlement purposes the proposed settlement Class meets the standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and 23(b). Specifically, the Courts finds that the Class is sufficiently numerous because there are approximately 99 members in the Settlement Class. The Court also finds that the settlement Class satisfies the elements of commonality and predominance in that all Class Members share the same legal and factual questions of whether Defendant provided off-duty rest periods. The Court also finds that typicality is satisfied because Plaintiff was subject to the same uniform policies and practices as the Class. Lastly, the Court finds that adequacy is satisfied because the claims of Class Members and Plaintiff are coextensive and there is no conflict between Plaintiff and any other Class Member. Additionally, the Court finds Class Counsel have no conflicts of interest, have vigorously prosecuted this action, and have significant experience litigating class actions.
3. The Settlement falls within the range of reasonableness and appears to be presumptively valid, subject only to any objections that may be raised at the final fairness hearing and final approval by this Court.
4. A final fairness hearing on the question of whether the proposed Settlement, attorneys’ fees and costs to Class Counsel, and the Class Representative’s Service Award should be finally approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate as to the members of the Class is scheduled in Courtroom 8 (BAM) before Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on the date and time set forth in the implementation schedule in Paragraph 10 below.
5. This Court approves, as to form and content, the Revised Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement and Hearing Date for Court Approval (“Class Notice”), in substantially the form attached to the Addendum as Exhibit 1 , except that the Parties shall add that any appearance by Counsel of a Class Member at the final fairness hearing shall be at the Class Member’s own *3 expense, and the Share Form in substantially the form attached to the Settlement Agreement as Exhibit 2 . (Doc. Nos. 21-5, 27-2.) The Court approves the procedure for Class Members to participate in, to opt out of, and to object to, the Settlement as set forth in the Stipulation of Settlement.
6. The Court directs the mailing of the Class Notice, and the Share Form by first class mail to the Class Members in accordance with the Implementation Schedule set forth below. The Court finds the dates selected for the mailing and distribution of the Notice and the Share Form, as set forth in the Implementation Schedule, meet the requirements of due process and provide the best notice practicable under the circumstances and shall constitute due and sufficient notice to all persons entitled thereto.
7. It is ordered that the Settlement Class is preliminarily certified for settlement purposes only. 8. The Court appoints Plaintiff Richard Martinez as Class Representative, and appoints Craig J. Ackermann of Ackermann & Tilajef, P.C. and Jonathan Melmed of Melmed Law Group P.C. as Class Counsel.
9. The Court appoints Simpluris, Inc. as the Settlement Administrator. 10. The Court orders the following Implementation Schedule for further
proceedings: a. Deadlin e for Defendant to comply with August 11, 2019
notice provisions of Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1715.
b. Deadline for Defendant to Submit Class August 15, 2019 Member Information to Settlement Administrator
c. Deadline for Settlement Administrator to August 29, 2019 Mail Notice to Class Members d. Deadline for Class Members to Postmark October 28, 2019 Share Forms with Challenges *4 e. Deadline for Class Members to Postmark October 28, 2019 Requests for Exclusion f. Deadline for Class Members to submit October 28, 2019 Objections to Settlement g. Deadline for Settlement Administrator to December 16, 2020 file Declaration of Due Diligence and Proof of Mailing
h. Deadline for Class Counsel to file Motion October 18, 2019 for Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses i. Deadline for Class Counsel to file Motion December 19, 2019 for Final Approval of Settlement j. Final Approval/Fairness Hearing January 14, 2020 Time: 9:00 a.m. Dept: 8 (BAM)
k. Deadline for Settlement Administrator to February 14, 2020 mail the Settlement Awards, Service Award, and PAGA Payments, and to wire transfer the Attorneys' Fees and Costs (if Settlement is Effective) l. Settlement Administrator to File Proof of May 14, 2020 Payment of Settlement Awards, Enhancement Award, Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (if Settlement is Effective) 11. If any of the dates in this Implementation Schedule falls on a weekend, bank or
20 court holiday, the time to act shall be extended to the next business day. 21
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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/s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ Dated: August 2, 2019 24
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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