Marcie Le v. Walgreen Co. et al, No. 8:2018cv01548 - Document 166 (C.D. Cal. 2021)

Court Description: ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTON SETTLEMENT; PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES; AND ENTERING FINAL JUDGMENT by Judge David O. Carter 163 164 . The Court approves Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees $ ;2,266,666.67. The Court approves Class Counsel's request for reimbursement of litigation expenses and costs of suit $254,810.92. The Court approves $375,000 to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The Court approves an incentive payment $10,000.00. The Court approves payment of reasonable settlement administration costs $30,000. SEE DOCUMENT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. (twdb)

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Marcie Le v. Walgreen Co. et al Doc. 166 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 166 Filed 07/21/21 Page 1 of 6 Page ID #:20821 JS-6 I 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 Cl.. 10 II 12 Cl) 13 V) 14 OJ) 15 C 16 17 18 19 Marcie Le and Karen Dao, individu­ ally and on behalf of all others simi­ larly situated, Plaintiffs, V. Walgreen Co., an Illinois corporation; Walgreen Pharmacy Services Mid­ west, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company; and Walgreens Boots Alli­ ance, a Delaware corporation, Defendants. Case No. 8:18-cv-01548-DOC (ADSx) Hon. David O. Carter Special Master Hon. Jay C. Gandhi (Ret.) ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT; PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES; AND ENTERING FINAL JUDGMENT [163] [164] Hearing Date: Hearing Time: Courtroom: August 2, 2021 8:30 a.m. 9D 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF Cl.Ass AC11ON SETTLEMENT CASE No. 8:18-CV-01548 Dockets.Justia.com Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 166 Filed 07/21/21 Page 2 of 6 Page ID #:20822 I ORDER APPROVING CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT 2 On August 2, 2021, Plaintiffs' Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Set- 3 tlement and Plaintiffs' Motion for Attorneys' Fees, Expenses, and Service Awards (to4 gether, the "Motions") were heard by the Court. Having Received and considered the 5 Motions, the February 22, 2021 Stipulation of Class Action Settlement and Release of 6 Claims ("Settlement" or "Settlement Agreement"), the declarations of Elliot J. Siegel, 7 Daniel M. Hutchinson, Marcie Le, Karen Dao, and Byran Valdez, the evidence and 8 argument received by the Court before entering its April 1, 2021 Order Directing No9 tice (Dkt. No. 159) and at the Final Approval Hearing, and all other papers and plead10 ings on file in this action, the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, enters this 11 Order and Judgment, and HEREBY ORDERS and MAKES DETERMINATIONS as 12 follows: 13 I. The Court previously preliminarily approved the Settlement in its April 1, 14 2021 Order Directing Notice. Dkt. No. 159. In accordance with the Order Directing 15 Notice, Class Counsel and CPT Group, Inc. (the "Administrator"), provided notice of 16 the terms of the Settlement to the Class Members pursuant to the terms of the Settle17 ment and Order Directing Notice. As part of that notice process, Class Members have 18 had the opportunity to comment on, object to, or exclude themselves from the Settle19 ment. 20 2. Except as otherwise specified, the terms in this Order shall have the same 21 meaning as they are defined in the Settlement, which is incorporated by reference into 22 this Order. 23 3. The Court has jurisdiction over the Class, Defendants, the Action, and the 24 Settlement under 28 U.S.C. §§ l 132(a), 1332(d). 25 4. The Court finds that the Notice provided to the Class comports with and 26 satisfied all requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA"), 28 U.S.C. § 27 1711, et seq. 28 1 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF Cl.Ass ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 166 Filed 07/21/21 Page 3 of 6 Page ID #:20823 I 5. For settlement purposes only, the Court confirms and finally approves the 2 certification of the Class as set forth in its Order Directing Notice. For purposes of this 3 Order, the Class is defined as "All persons who are and/or were employed by Defend­ 4 ants in California at any time during the Class Period as hourly, non-exempt pharmacy 5 interns, pharmacy intern graduates, pharmacists, staff pharmacists, multi-location 6 pharmacists (both assigned and unassigned), and/or pharmacy managers (classified un­ 7 der job code RXH; RXMHC; RXHSF; RXHCA; RXHLS; PHI5; PHIG; PHI3; PHI6; 8 PHI4; SPHI4; or SPHI5)." The following Class Members served timely and valid re­ 9 quests for exclusion and are not Class Members: Ioffe, Viktoriya; Hadjian, Payvand; Cl.. 10 Buttolph, Judith; Valdez Jr., Leonard; Do, Loanne. II 6. In accordance with the Order Directing Notice, Class Members were pro- 12 vided Notice of the Settlement by first-class mail. The Notice apprised Class Members Cl) V) OJ) C 13 of the pendency of the Action, the terms of the proposed Settlement, their right to re­ 14 ceive a settlement share, their right to appear, object to, or exclude themselves from 15 the proposed Settlement, the amount of attorneys' fees and costs sought, their right to 16 appear in person or by counsel at the final approval hearing, and the information for 17 that hearing. The Notice provided 60 days for Class Members to take action in re­ 18 sponse to the Notice. 19 7. The Court finds that the Notice (a) provides the best practicable notice; 20 (b) is reasonably calculated, under the circumstances, to apprise Class Members of the 21 pendency of the Action, the terms of the proposed Settlement, and of their right to 22 appear, object to, or exclude themselves from the proposed Settlement; (c) are reason­ 23 able and constitute due, adequate, and sufficient notice to all persons entitled to receive 24 25 26 27 28 notice; and (d) fully comply with federal law, the United States Constitution, and all other applicable laws. The Notice was conducted with sufficient protections that the Court may make an informed decision regarding approval of the Settlement based on the responses of the Class Members. 2 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF Cl.Ass ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 166 Filed 07/21/21 Page 4 of 6 Page ID #:20824 I 8. No Class Members filed written objections the Settlement. 2 9. The Court finds that the Settlement Agreement has been reached as a re­ 3 sult of informed and non-collusive arm's-length negotiations. The Court further finds 4 that the Parties have conducted extensive investigation and research, and their attor­ 5 neys were able to reasonably evaluate their respective positions. The Court also finds 6 that the Settlement now will avoid additional and potentially substantial litigation 7 costs, as well as delay and risks if the Parties were to continue to litigate the case. 8 Additionally, after considering the monetary recovery provided as part of the Settle­ 9 ment in light of the challenges posed by continued litigation, the Court concludes that Cl.. 10 Class Counsel secured significant relief for Class Members. II I 0. The Court finds that the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate in all 12 respects to the participating Class Members. The Court further finds that: Cl) 13 V) 14 OJ) 15 C 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 a. Named Plaintiffs and Class Counsel have vigorously represented the class; b. the Settlement arose out of arm's-length, informed, and non-collu­ sive negotiations between counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants, who convened multiple times to discuss settlement under the super­ vision of a mediator; c. the relief provided by the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and ade­ quate in light of the (i) the costs, risks, and delay of appeal and any further proceedings in the trial court; (ii) the effectiveness and straightforwardness of the proposed Settlement distribution pro­ cess, which does not require proposed Class Members to affirma­ tively make a claim; (iii) the reasonableness of the request for award of attorney' fees, both as a percentage of common fund and on a lodestar basis; and (iv) the absence of any agreement required to be identified under Rule 23(e)(3); and 3 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF Cl.Ass ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 166 Filed 07/21/21 Page 5 of 6 Page ID #:20825 d. I other. 2 3 the Settlements treats Class Members equitably relative to each 11. The Court orders the Parties to comply with and carry out all terms and 4 provisions of the Settlement to the extent that the Settlement does not conflict with this 5 Order and Judgment, in which case the provisions of this Order and Judgment shall 6 take precedence. 7 12. The Court approves Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees in the 8 amount of $2,266,666.67, which shall be paid from the Gross Settlement Fund. The 9 Court finds that the fees sought are fair and reasonable in light of the results obtained 10 for the Class; the strengths of Plaintiffs case and the risk, expense, complexity, and 11 duration of further litigation; the contingent nature of the engagement and risks under12 taken; the skill and experience of counsel; and awards in similar cases. 13 13. The Court approves Class Counsel's request for reimbursement of litiga- 14 tion expenses and costs of suit in the amount of$254,810.92, which shall be paid from 15 the Gross Settlement Fund. 16 14. The Court approves a payment in the amount of$375,000 to the California 17 Labor & Workforce Development Agency, representing the State of California's por18 tion of civil penalties under PAGA, which shall be paid from the Gross Settlement 19 Fund. 20 15. The Court approves an incentive payment to the Named Plaintiffs and 21 Class Representatives in this action, Marcie Le and Karen Dao, in the amount of 22 $10,000.00 each, which shall be paid from the Gross Settlement Fund. 23 16. The Court approves the payment of reasonable settlement administration 24 costs to the Settlement Administrator, CPT Group, Inc., in the amount of $30,000, 25 which shall be paid from the Gross Settlement Fund. 26 17. By operation of this Order and Judgment, the claims in this Action of each 27 Class Member against Defendants are released as set forth in the Stipulation, except 28 4 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF Cl.Ass ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 166 Filed 07/21/21 Page 6 of 6 Page ID #:20826 I for those Class Members that have validly requested exclusion. The claims of Named 2 Plaintiffs are released as set forth in the Stipulation. Nothing in this Order shall prevent 3 any action to enforce the Parties' obligations under the Settlement or this Order, in4 eluding as to payment of the Gross Settlement Fund. 5 18. In the event that the Settlement does not become effective in accordance 6 with the terms of the Stipulation, then this Order and Judgment shall be rendered null 7 and void to the extent provided by and in accordance with the Stipulation and shall be 8 vacated, and, in such event, all orders entered and releases delivered in connection 9 herewith shall be null and void to the extent provided by and in accordance with the 10 Stipulation, and each party shall retain his, her or its rights to proceed with litigation 11 of the Action. 12 (I.) V) OJ) C 13 19. Without affecting the finality of this Order and Judgment, the Court re­ serves exclusive and continuing jurisdiction over the Action; Named Plaintiffs; the 14 Class; and Defendants for the purposes of supervising the administration, implementa­ 15 tion, enforcement, construction, and interpretation of the Settlement and this Order and 16 Judgment. 17 20. The Court finds that there is no just reason for delay of entry of this Order 18 and Judgment and hereby directs its entry. Each Party is to bear its own costs and 19 attorneys' fees except as provided in the Settlement and this Order. 20 21. By means of this Order, the Court hereby enters final judgment pursuant 21 to Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(1). 22 23 IT IS SO ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED. 24 25 _ l_y _ 2_1__, 2021 : _Ju 26 Dated The Honorable David O. Carter United States District Court Judge 27 28 5 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF Cl.Ass ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548

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