United States District Court, N.D. California
ORDER RE SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING AND/OR EVIDENCE DOCKET
NO. 206
EDWARD
M. CHEN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
The
Court has reviewed Plaintiffs' motion for preliminary
approval. Based on that review, it orders the parties to file
supplemental briefing and/or evidence on the issues
identified below. The parties shall provide a joint
submission to the Court. Where fewer than all parties take a
position, the joint submission may reflect such. The joint
submission shall be filed by December 19,
2019.
1. How
did Plaintiffs arrive at the conclusion that the California
PAGA claim was worth approximately $6.8 million? See
Mot. at 12.
2. Why
does the California class include individuals who attended
pre-employment training? Why do the classes for the other
jurisdictions not include such individuals? See Mot.
at 13; Sett. Agmt. ¶ 2.46.
3. Do
the parties have a sense of how long checks will be
maintained by each state's Unclaimed Property Division
(or other such similar agency)? Did the parties discuss a cy
pres beneficiary as an alternative?
4. Was
any discovery, formal or informal, taken with respect to any
refinery? Was any discovery, formal or informal, taken with
respect to the alleged joint employer relationships between
CS and the various refineries?
5. What
is the estimated lodestar with respect to attorney's
fees? Plaintiffs shall also provide the Court with the
underlying information used to calculate the lodestar -
i.e., the hourly rates and the number of attorney
and/or nonattorney hours (estimates are acceptable). In
addition, Plaintiffs shall provide estimates as to many hours
were spent on the major litigation tasks (e.g., the
complaint, motion work, discovery (formal and informal),
settlement, etc.).
6. The
parties shall review the District's Procedural Guidance
for Class Action Settlements, available at
https://cand.uscourts.gov/forms/procedural-guidance-for-class-action-settlements/.
The parties shall provide all information required by the
Procedural Guidance, not already included in their motion.
7. With
respect to the class/collective notices, the Court has the
following comments. Form A.
• Page 1. The first paragraph in the notice should
include an estimate as what a member will be paid if he/she
participates.
• Page 2. In Question 2, the text should clarify that a
member who makes an objection is still a part of the class
(not excluded).
• Page 3. In Question 4, the text should include the
specific dollar amounts for all deductions from the gross
settlement fund, including but not limited to the
attorney's fees and incentive awards.
• Page 3. In Question 4, the definition of the
California class does not refer to pre-employment training.
• Page 5. In Question 6, should the member be told that
cashing a settlement check will result in a release of both
the state law claims and the FLSA claim, even if the member
did not opt into the FLSA collective? Or alternatively,
should there be a reference ...