United States District Court, C.D. California
DAVID TRUJILLO; DEANNA HARDEN; on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs,
v.
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC.; UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES, INC.; UNITEDHEALTHCARE INSURANCE COMPANY; Defendants.
REVISED FINAL ORDER APPROVING CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
AND JUDGMENT
HONORABLE JOHN F. WALTER UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
The
Motion of Plaintiffs David Trujillo and Deanna Harden
(“Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and the
Settlement Class, for final approval of the class action
Settlement reached with Defendants United HealthCare
Services, Inc. (“UHS”) and United Healthcare
Insurance Company (“UHIC”) (collectively,
“United”) in this lawsuit (the
“Litigation”) came on for hearing before this
Court on December 2, 2019. Plaintiffs and United are
collectively referred to herein as the “Parties.”
Michael M. Maddigan and David W. Skaar appeared as attorneys
for United, and Robert S. Gianelli, Joshua S. Davis and Conal
Doyle appeared as attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Settlement
Class. After considering the Settlement, the moving papers,
arguments of counsel, and all other matters presented to the
Court, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, as
follows:
1. The
Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement is
hereby GRANTED.
2. This
Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement and Judgment
(“Final Order and Judgment”) incorporates and
makes part hereof: (a) the Parties' Settlement Agreement
filed on June 18, 2019, including Exhibits A to D [Dkt. No.
189-2] (collectively the “Agreement”); and (b)
the Court's findings and conclusions contained in its
Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class
Action Settlement [Dkt. No. 193] (the “Preliminary
Approval Order”). All defined terms in this Final Order
and Judgment shall have the same meanings as in the
Agreement.
3. All
preliminary findings and conclusions in the Court's
Preliminary Approval Order are hereby made final.
4. The
Court has personal jurisdiction over all members of the
Trujillo Settlement Class. The Court has subject
matter jurisdiction over the claims asserted in this
Litigation to approve the Settlement, and all exhibits
attached thereto. Venue is proper. The Settlement is fair,
reasonable and adequate, and consistent and in compliance
with the applicable provisions of the United States
Constitution, its Amendments, and the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, as to, and in the best interests of, the
Settlement Class. The Court also finds that the Settlement
resulted from two arms-length mediation sessions and was
concluded only after Plaintiffs and United conducted their
own investigations and evaluations of the factual and legal
issues raised by Plaintiffs' claims, as well as
United's defenses. No objections or requests to appear at
the Final Approval Hearing have been made to the Settlement
by any member of the Class. Accordingly, the Settlement is
hereby finally approved.
5. The
Trujillo Settlement Class, as defined at page 3 of
the Settlement, paragraph (i), is finally certified for
settlement purposes.
6. The
Court hereby directs the Parties and their counsel to
implement and consummate the Settlement according to its
terms and provisions.
7.
Pursuant to the Court's Preliminary Approval Order, the
notice requirement was satisfied in that the Class
Administrator sent the Mailed Notices to each Identified
Class Member in the Trujillo class on August 22,
2019, by first-class mail, postage prepaid, to each
Identified Class Member's last known address, and where
necessary, further steps were taken in accordance with the
Agreement to obtain updated addresses when the mail was
returned as undelivered and to re-send the Mailed Notice.
Identified Class Members had the opportunity to object to the
Settlement and the Agreement, or to exclude themselves from
the Class. Identified Class Members were informed of the date
and time of the Final Approval Hearing originally set for
November 18, 2019, and their right to appear at the Final
Approval Hearing. These procedures afforded protections to
persons in the Trujillo Class and provide the basis
for the Court to make an informed decision on approval of the
Settlement based on the responses of Identified Class
Members.
8. On
October 15, 2019, after the Class Administrator sent the
Mailed Notices to each Identified Class Member, and the last
date to object and give notice of intent to appear had
passed, the Court continued the Final Approval Hearing to
December 2, 2019. Because there were no objections or
requests to appear by any member of the Class, the Court
finds that it was unnecessary to give the Identified Class
Members notice of the change of date and time, and corrected
address, for the Final Approval Hearing.
9. The
Mailed Notices and all other instruments provided to the
Class Members:
(a) constituted the best practicable notice under the
circumstances;
(b) constituted notice that was reasonably calculated to
apprise Identified Class Members of the pendency of the
Litigation, their right to object to or exclude themselves
from the proposed Settlement and to appear at the Final
Approval Hearing;
(c) were reasonable and constituted due, adequate, and
sufficient notice to all persons entitled to ...