Jarel Brown v. Saks and Company LLC, No. 2:2017cv04210 - Document 47 (C.D. Cal. 2018)
Court Description: FINAL APPROVAL ORDER AND FINAL JUDGMENT by Judge S. James Otero: The Court approves the Settlement set forth in the Settlement Agreement. The Court hereby orders the Settlement Administrator to distribute the Individual Settlement Payments to Class M embers in accordance with the provisions of the Settlement. For purposes of this Order and for this Settlement only, the Court herebycertifies the Class. The confirms the appointment of Plaintiff Jarel Brown as the class representative for the Class. Further, the Court approves a Service Award to Plaintiff in the amount of $ 7,000.00. Court herebyconfirms the appointment of Craig J. Ackermann of Ackermann & Tilajef, P.C.;Jonathan Melmed of Melmed Law Group, P.C.; and David Winston of Winsto n LawGroup, P.C., as Class Counsel. Further, the Court finally approves a Class Counsel Fees Award, as fair and reasonable, not to exceed 25% of the Total Settlement Amount $159,700.00. (SEE DOCUMENT AS TO HOW TO BE DISTRIBUTED). Court fin ally approves a Class Counsel Costs Award of $8,707.56 (SEE DOCUMENT AS TO HOW TO BE DISTRIBUTED). For purposes of this Order and this Settlement only, the Court hereby finally approves Settlement Administration Costs of $10,500.00.(SEE DOCUMENT FOR OTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS THEREIN). (MD JS-6, Case Terminated). (lc)
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Jarel Brown v. Saks and Company LLC 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ACKERMANN & TILAJEF, P.C. Craig J. Ackermann, CA Bar No. 229832 cja@ackermanntilajef.com 1180 South Beverly Drive, Suite 610 Los Angeles, CA 90035 Telephone: (310) 277-0614 Facsimile: (310) 277-0635 Co-Counsel for Plaintiff Brown and the Putative Class 16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA JAREL BROWN, an individual, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiff, 18 v. 19 SAKS & COMPANY, LLC a Delaware Limited Liability Corporation, and DOES 1 thru 50, inclusive,, 20 21 22 July 16, 2018 [Additional Counsel on Next Page] 13 15 JS-6 JULIE A. DUNNE, Bar No. 160544 jdunne@littler.com RUTH N. DAPPER, Bar No. 302498 rdapper@littler.com 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 Telephone: 619.232.0441 Facsimile: 619.232.4302 12 14 Doc. 47 Case No. 2:17-cv-04210 (SJO) HON. S. JAMES OTERO FINAL APPROVAL ORDER AND FINAL JUDGMENT Complaint Filed: June 6, 2017 Defendants. 23 24 25 26 27 28 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 Dockets.Justia.com 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 MELMED LAW GROUP, P.C. Jonathan Melmed, CA Bar No. 290218 jm@melmedlaw.com 1180 South Beverly Drive, Suite 610 Los Angeles, California 90035 Telephone: (310) 824-3828 Facsimile: (310) 862-6851 WINSTON LAW GROUP, P.C. David Winston, CA Bar No. 301667 david@employmentlitigators.com 1180 South Beverly Drive, Suite 610 Los Angeles, California 90035 Telephone: (424) 288-4568 Facsimile: (424) 532-4062 Co-Counsel for Plaintiff Brown and the Putative Class 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 1. 1 [PROPOSED] FINAL APPROVAL ORDER AND FINAL JUDGMENT 2 WHEREAS, this matter has come before the Court for hearing pursuant to the 3 Preliminary Approval Order dated March 22, 2018, for final approval of the 4 Settlement as set forth in the Joint Stipulation of Class Action Settlement and Release 5 (“Settlement Agreement”), and 6 WHEREAS, the Court having considered all papers filed and arguments 7 presented and otherwise being fully informed, THE COURT HEREBY MAKES 8 THE FOLLOWING DETERMINATIONS AND ORDERS: 9 1. This Order incorporates by reference the definitions in the Settlement 10 Agreement and all terms defined therein shall have the same meaning in this Order as 11 set forth in the Settlement Agreement. 12 13 14 2. This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this litigation and over all Parties to this litigation, including the Plaintiff and Class Members. 3. Defendant promulgated the notice required by the Class Action Fairness 15 Act (“CAFA”) on March 30, 2018. CAFA provides that “[a]n order giving final 16 approval of a proposed settlement may not be issued earlier than 90 days after the 17 requisite notice is provided. 28 U.S.C. § 1715(d). Here, the requisite time has passed 18 since service of the notice for this Court to issue this Order. 19 4. Pursuant to the Preliminary Approval Order, the appointed Settlement 20 Administrator, Simpluris, Inc., mailed a Notice of Settlement to all known Class 21 Members by First Class U.S. Mail. The Notice of Settlement fairly and adequately 22 informed Class Members of the terms of the proposed Settlement and the benefits 23 available to Class Members thereunder. The Notice of Settlement further informed 24 Class Members of the pendency of the Action, of the proposed Settlement, of their 25 right to receive their share of the Settlement, of the scope and effect of the 26 Settlement’s Released Claims, of the preliminary Court approval of the proposed 27 Settlement, of the exclusion and objection timing and procedures, of the date of the 28 Final Approval Hearing and of the right to appear in connection with the Final LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 1. 1 Approval Hearing. Class Members had adequate time to use each of these procedures. 2 The Court finds and determines that this notice procedure afforded adequate 3 protections to Class Members and provides the basis for the Court to make an 4 informed decision regarding approval of the Settlement based on the responses of 5 Class Members. The Court finds and determines that the Notice provided in the 6 Action was the best notice practicable, which satisfied the requirements of law and 7 due process. 8 9 10 5. In response to the Notice, no Class Members objected to the Settlement and only two Class Members requested exclusion from the Settlement. 6. The Court finds that the Settlement offers significant monetary recovery 11 to all Class Members and finds that such recovery is fair, adequate, and reasonable 12 when balanced against further litigation related to liability and damages issues. The 13 Court further finds that extensive and costly investigation, formal and informal 14 discovery, research and litigation have been conducted such that Class Counsel and 15 Defense Counsel are able to reasonably evaluate their respective positions at this time. 16 The Court finds that the proposed Settlement, at this time, will avoid substantial 17 additional costs by all Parties, as well as avoid the risks and delay inherent to further 18 prosecution of the Action. The Court further finds that the Settlement has been 19 reached as the result of intensive, serious, and non-collusive, arms-length negotiations. 20 Thus, the Court approves the Settlement set forth in the Settlement Agreement and 21 finds that the Settlement is, in all respects, fair, adequate, and reasonable and directs 22 the Parties to effectuate the Settlement according to its terms. 23 7. The Court hereby orders the Settlement Administrator to distribute the 24 Individual Settlement Payments to Class Members in accordance with the provisions 25 of the Settlement. 26 27 28 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 8. For purposes of this Order and for this Settlement only, the Court hereby certifies the Class, as defined in the Settlement Agreement. 9. For purposes of this Order and this Settlement only, the Court hereby 4. 1 confirms the appointment of Plaintiff Jarel Brown as the class representative for the 2 Class. Further, the Court approves a Service Award to Plaintiff in the amount of 3 Seven Thousand Dollars ($7,000). 4 Administrator to distribute the Service Award to Plaintiff in accordance with the 5 provisions of the Settlement. 6 10. The Court hereby orders the Settlement For purposes of this Order and this Settlement only, the Court hereby 7 confirms the appointment of Craig J. Ackermann of Ackermann & Tilajef, P.C.; 8 Jonathan Melmed of Melmed Law Group, P.C.; and David Winston of Winston Law 9 Group, P.C., as Class Counsel. Further, the Court finally approves a Class Counsel 10 Fees Award, as fair and reasonable, not to exceed 25% of the Total Settlement 11 Amount or One Hundred Fifty-Nine Thousand, Seven Hundred Dollars ($159,700), 12 which will be distributed as 1/3 Ackermann & Tilajef, P.C.; 1/3 to Melmed Law 13 Group, P.C.; and 1/3 to Winston Law Group, P.C. As well, the Court finally approves 14 a Class Counsel Costs Award, as fair and reasonable, not to exceed Eight Thousand, 15 Seven Hundred and Seven Dollars and Fifty-Six Cents ($8,707.56), which will be 16 distributed as Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty-Two Dollars and Seventeen 17 Cents ($5,422.17) to Ackermann & Tilajef, P.C.; One Thousand, Four Hundred and 18 Nineteen Dollars and Fifty-Two Cents ($1,419.52) to Melmed Law Group, P.C.; and 19 One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Five Dollars and Eighty-Seven Cents 20 ($1,865.87) to Winston Law Group, P.C. The Class Counsel Fees Award and Class 21 Counsel Costs Award shall be for all claims for Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees and 22 litigation costs past, present and future incurred in the prosecution and resolution of 23 the Claims and neither Class Counsel, nor any other counsel, shall be permitted to 24 petition the Court, or to accept any payments, for fees and costs relating to the 25 prosecution and resolution of the Claims other than the Class Counsel Fees Award and 26 Class Counsel Costs Award. The Court hereby orders the Settlement Administrator to 27 distribute the Class Counsel Fees Award and Class Counsel Costs Award to Class 28 Counsel in accordance with the provisions of the Settlement. LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 5. 1 11. For purposes of this Order and this Settlement only, the Court hereby 2 finally approves Settlement Administration Costs of Ten-Thousand Five-Hundred 3 Dollars ($10,500) as fair and reasonable. 4 12. As of the Effective Date, every Class Member shall have conclusively 5 released the Released Claims against the Released Parties, including for any injunctive 6 or declaratory relief. 7 13. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, Plaintiff agrees to a Complete and 8 General Release and a 1542 Waiver to the Released Parties, as defined and set forth 9 fully in the Settlement Agreement. 10 14. After Settlement administration has been completed in accordance with 11 the Settlement Agreement, and in no event later than 180 days after the Effective 12 Date, Defendant shall file a report with this Court certifying compliance with the 13 terms of the Settlement. 14 15. Neither this Order, the Settlement Agreement, nor any document referred 15 to herein, nor any action taken to carry out the Settlement Agreement is, may be 16 construed as, or may be used as an admission by or against Defendant or any of the 17 other Released Parties of any fault, wrongdoing or liability whatsoever. Nor is this 18 Order a finding of the validity of any claims in the Action or of any wrongdoing by 19 Defendant or any of the other Released Parties. The entering into or carrying out of 20 the Settlement Agreement, and any negotiations or proceedings related thereto, shall 21 not in any event be construed as, or deemed to be evidence of, an admission or 22 concession with regard to the denials or defenses by Defendant or any of the other 23 Released Parties and shall not be offered in evidence against Defendant or any of the 24 Released Parties in any action or proceeding in any court, administrative agency, or 25 other tribunal for any purpose whatsoever other than to enforce the provisions of this 26 Order, the Settlement Agreement, or any related agreement or release. 27 Notwithstanding these restrictions, any of the Released Parties may file in the Action 28 or in any other proceeding this Order, the Settlement Agreement, or any other papers LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 6. 1 and records on file in the Action as evidence of the Settlement and to support a 2 defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, release, waiver or other theory of claim 3 preclusion, issue preclusion or similar defense as to the Released Claims. 4 16. If the Settlement does not become final and effective in accordance with 5 the terms of the Settlement Agreement, resulting in the return and/or retention of the 6 Settlement funds to Defendant consistent with the terms of the Settlement, then this 7 Order and all orders entered in connection herewith, including any order certifying the 8 Class, appointing a class representative or Class Counsel, shall be rendered null and 9 void and shall be vacated. 10 17. Final Judgment is hereby entered based on the parties’ class action 11 Settlement Agreement. Without affecting the finality of this Final Approval Order and 12 Final Judgment in any way, this Court hereby retains continuing jurisdiction over the 13 interpretation, implementation and enforcement of the Settlement and all orders and 14 judgments entered in connection therewith. 15 16 IT IS SO ORDERED: 17 18 Dated: July 16, 2018 19 20 21 Hon. S. James Otero 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 LITTLER MENDELSON, P.C. 501 W. Broadway Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101.3577 619.232.0441 7.
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