United States District Court, C.D. California
ENRIQUE VERDUGO, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff,
v.
DENALI WATER SOLUTIONS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR
FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND
JUDGMENT
HONORABLE OTIS D. WRIGHT, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This
matter has come before the Court on the unopposed motion by
Plaintiff ENRIQUE VERDUGO ("Plaintiff), on behalf of
himself and all other similarly situated employees of
Defendant DENALI WATER SOLUTIONS ("Defendant")
(collectively, "the parties") for final approval of
the parties'Amended Joint Stipulation of Class Action
Settlement ("Settlement Agreement") pursuant to
Rule 23(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The
Motion will be heard with Plaintiffs concurrently filed
motion for an Order awarding the requested attorneys'
fees and reasonable litigation costs to Plaintiff's
counsel and awarding the Class Representative Enhancement and
Incentive Award to Plaintiff, as addressed in detail in the
parties' Settlement Agreement.
A copy
of the original Settlement Agreement was provided at Exhibit
A to Class Counsel's declaration in support of the motion
for preliminary approval document (see ECF No.
31-3). A copy of the Amended Joint Stipulation of Class
Action Settlement, which only listed the revisions from the
original Agreement, was provided at Exhibit A to Class
Counsel's Declaration in support of the supplemental
motion for preliminary approval documents. (See ECF
No. 34-3). The Amended Settlement incorporated the original
and together constitute the Settlement Agreement. Copies of
the Settlement Agreement and the Amended Settlement Agreement
were also provided for the Court's review at
Exhibit A to the concurrently filed
declaration of Plaintiff s counsel, David Yeremian, Esq.
The
Court preliminarily approved the Parties' Settlement and
their proposed resolution of Plaintiff's class and
representative claims on behalf of the California Class
Members ("the Settlement Class Members") on
May 6, 2019 by entering its Order granting
preliminary approval to the Settlement Agreement, and set the
final approval hearing for September 16,
2019. (ECF No. 36).
In
accordance with the order granting preliminary approval, and
in compliance with due process, the Settlement Administrator
(ILYM Group, Inc.) sent the Class Notice to each of the 75
Class Members. The Class Notice informed them of the terms of
the Settlement, the right to participate in the Settlement,
the right to object to the Settlement, the right to request
exclusion and pursue their own remedies, and the right to
appear in person or by counsel at the final approval hearing
regarding final approval of the Settlement.
The
motion for final approval seeks final approval of the
Settlement and entry of judgment that will bind each
Settlement Class Member and will operate as a full release
and discharge of the Settled Claims (as defined in the
Settlement Agreement).
Having
received and considered Plaintiff's motion for final
approval of the Settlement, Plaintiff's motion for
attorneys' fees, costs and Class Representative Incentive
Awards, the file in this case, and the evidence and argument
received by the Court before entering the Preliminary
Approval Order and before and in connection with the final
approval hearing, THE COURT HEREBY ORDERS, ADJUDGES
AND DECREES THAT:
1. The
terms in this order shall have the same meaning as assigned
to them in the Settlement Agreement.
2. The
Settlement Administrator (ILYM Group, Inc.) has fulfilled its
initial notice and reporting duties under the Settlement
Agreement.
3. The
Class Notice: (i) was the best practicable notice under the
facts and circumstances of this case; (ii) was reasonably
calculated to apprise Class Members of the pendency of the
Action, their right to participate in the Settlement, their
right to exclude themselves from the Settlement, and their
right to object to, and/or appear at the Final Approval
Hearing for, the Settlement; and (iii) constituted due,
adequate, and sufficient notice of a class settlement under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, due process, and any
other applicable rules or law. No Class Member requested
exclusion from the Settlement, and no one objected to it.
Therefore, there are 75 total Settlement Class Members.
4. The
notice of settlement served by Plaintiff on the California
Labor and Workforce Development Agency ("LWDA")
satisfied the requirements of PAGA. The LWDA has expressed no
objection to the Settlement.
5. The
terms of the Settlement are fair, reasonable and adequate,
and the standards and applicable requirements for final
approval of this class action settlement are satisfied,
including the provisions of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure.
6. The
Settlement has been reached as a result of intensive,
serious, and non-collusive, arms-length negotiations and was
achieved with the aid of an experienced mediator. The
Settlement was entered into in good faith as to each
Settlement Class Member.
7.
Class Counsel are experienced class action litigators and
have expressed the view that the Settlement ...