Whitley v. Siemens Industry, Inc., No. 2:2014cv00099 - Document 40 (E.D. Cal. 2015)
Court Description: FINAL JUDGMENT signed by Chief Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 10/5/2015 CERTIFYING the class as listed for settlement purposes only; APPOINTING Jarrid Whitley as Class Representative; APPOINTING Anthony M. Perez, Jr. as counsel for the class; APPO INTING CPT Group, Inc. as Claims Administrator; DISMISSING this action with prejudice; GRANTING Jarrid Whitley a class representative enhancement award of $7,500.00; GRANTING the plaintiff's attorney's request for award of attorney's fees in the amount of $277,200.00 and expenses, including CPT Class Administration costs in the amount of $54,746.00. (Michel, G.)
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Whitley v. Siemens Industry, Inc. Doc. 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 10 11 12 Case No.: 2:14-cv-00099 MCE-DAD JARRID WHITLEY, on behalf of all others similarly situated, 13 Plaintiff, FINAL JUDGMENT 14 v. 15 16 17 SIEMENS INDUSTRY, INC., also doing business as and referred to as SIEMENS USA, SIEMENS CORPORATION, and SIEMENS, and DOES 1-100, inclusive, 18 Defendants. 19 20 / Date: October 1, 2015 Time: 2:00 p.m. Judge: Hon. Morrison C. England, Jr. Courtroom: 7 FINAL JUDGMENT 21 On May 22, 2014, the Parties1 to this Class Action reached a tentative Settlement and 22 they advised the Court of the Settlement. On June 1, 2015 the Court Ordered the Enforcement 23 of the Settlement. Subsequently, the Parties submitted a detailed written Stipulation with 24 attached Exhibit 1. The Court directed the Parties to provide Notice of the proposed Settlement 25 to the potential Class Members and scheduled a further hearing to determine whether the 26 1 27 28 The definitions for all capitalized, bold terms can be found in the Class Action Stipulation of Settlement referred to herein as the “Stipulation.” FINAL JUDGMENT 1 _______________________________ FINAL JUDGMENT Dockets.Justia.com 1 proposed Settlement request for Plaintiff’s Attorney Fees and Plaintiff’s expenses are fair, 2 reasonable, and adequate. 3 B. On October 1, 2015, the Court scheduled a Final Settlement hearing to 4 determine: (i) whether the Action should be finally certified as a Class Action solely and 5 exclusively for Settlement purposes; (ii) whether the proposed Settlement should be given 6 Final approval as fair, reasonable and adequate and in the best interests of each of the Parties 7 and the Settlement Class Members; (iii) whether a Final Judgement should be entered as 8 required by the Stipulation; (iv) whether the Settlement Class Members should be bound by 9 the release of claims set forth in the Stipulation; (v) whether a Class Representative 10 Enhancement award should be made to Plaintiff as set forth in Part III.I of the Stipulation; (vi) 11 the amount of Plaintiff’s Attorney award of Plaintiff’s Attorney’s Fees and costs, including 12 Class Action Administrator Fees of $13,500.00; and (vii) any other matter that may be relevant 13 to the Settlement. Anthony M. Perez appeared for the Plaintiff and the Class. Gregory G. 14 Iskander appeared on behalf of the Defendant. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 C. Zero putative Class Members timely requested exclusion from the Settlement Class and zero objections were filed with respect to the proposed Settlement. Consequently the Court took the matter under submission and vacated the October 1, 2014 hearing. D. After reviewing the pleadings and evidence filed in support of the request for Final approval of the Settlement and the requests for awards of Plaintiff’s Attorney’s Fees, Plaintiff’s Expenses and the Class Representative Enhancement, the Court finds, and IT IS SO ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, AS FOLLOWS: 1. The Court has personal jurisdiction over all Class Members and Defendant, and the Court has subject matter jurisdiction to approve the Stipulation (including all Exhibits thereto). 2. The Stipulation, including the definitions applicable to the Stipulation, is incorporated by reference into this Final Judgment. 27 28 FINAL JUDGMENT 2 _______________________________ FINAL JUDGMENT 3. 1 The Court finds that the Stipulation and proposed Settlement were 2 reached after arm’s-length negotiations between the Parties, including a full-day mediation 3 session before an impartial, respected and experienced mediator; the proposed Settlement was 4 concluded only after counsel for the Parties had conducted adequate discovery and 5 investigation; and the Settlement of the Action, as embodied in the terms of the Stipulation, is 6 finally approved as fair, reasonable, adequate and consistent and in compliance with all 7 applicable requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and United States Constitutions 8 (including the due process clauses), the California Rule of Court and any other applicable law, 9 and in the best interests of the Parties and the Class Members. 10 4. 11 following Class: Solely for the purpose of Settlement, the Court finally certifies the 12 All current and former non-exempt California employees of Siemens who were 13 employed by Siemens, in the State of California with responsibility related to production at the 14 Siemens Rail System Plant located at 7464 French Road, Sacramento, California at any time 15 during the Class Period. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5. The above Class is certified for Settlement purposes only, and the certification should not be construed as an admission by Defendant with respect to any of the allegations made against it in this Action by or on behalf of the Members of the Settlement Class. 6. The Court appoints Jarrid Whitley as Class Representative. 7. The Court appoints Anthony M. Perez, Jr. as counsel for the Class. 8. The Court appoints CPT Group, Inc. as Claims Administrator. 9. The Court finds that: a. the above-described Class contains Members so numerous that the joinder of all of them is impracticable; 26 27 28 FINAL JUDGMENT 3 _______________________________ FINAL JUDGMENT b. there are questions of law or fact common to the above-described 3 c. the claims of the Class Representative are typical of the claims of 4 the Class that Plaintiff seeks to represent; and 5 d. 1 2 6 7 8 9 Class; the Class Representative and Plaintiff’s Attorney has fairly and adequately protected the interests of the above-described Class. 10. The Parties and their counsel are ordered to implement and to consummate the Stipulation according to its terms and provisions. 11. The Notice and the Notice methodology implements pursuant to the 10 Stipulation (i) constituted the best practicable Notice; (ii) constituted Notice that was reasonably 11 calculated, under the circumstances, to apprise Class Members of the pendency of the Action, 12 their right to object to or exclude themselves from the proposed Settlement and their right to 13 appear at the Final Settlement Hearing; (iii) were reasonable and constituted, adequate and 14 sufficient Notice to all persons entitled to receive Notice; and (iv) met all applicable 15 requirements of the California Code of Civil Procedure, the California and United States 16 Constitutions (including the Due Process Clauses), the California Rules of Court and other 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 applicable law. 12. The Action is dismissed with prejudice, without an award of Fees, costs or expenses to any party except as provided in the Stipulation. 13. The terms of the Stipulation and the Final Judgment are binding on Plaintiff and all other Settlement Class Members, as well as their heirs, executors and administrators, successors and assigns, and those terms shall have res judicata, collateral estoppel and all other preclusive effect in all pending and future claims, lawsuits or other proceedings (governmental, administrative, regulatory or otherwise), including all forms of alternative dispute resolution, maintained by or on behalf of any such persons, to the extent those claims, lawsuits or other proceedings involve matters that have been raised in this Action as 27 28 FINAL JUDGMENT 4 _______________________________ FINAL JUDGMENT 1 provided by the Stipulation. 14. 2 Pursuant to Part III.C. of the Stipulation, Plaintiffs and all Settlement Class 3 Members are deemed to have conclusively released all rights, claims, complaints or causes of 4 Action against Defendant and its parents, predecessors, all affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, 5 directors, agents, employees, and stockholders, based on the Stipulated Class Settlement 6 Release of Claims, and forever discharging Defendant and the Released Parties from such 7 rights, claims, complaints or causes of Action, set forth in the release incorporated in the 8 Stipulation and Settlement Agreement. Such release is effective as the execution of this 9 Order. 10 15. Plaintiffs and all Settlement Class Members and any person or entity 11 acting on their behalf, or permanently barred and enjoined from (i) filing, commencing, 12 prosecuting, intervening in, participating in (as Class Members or otherwise), or receiving any 13 benefits or other relief from, any other lawsuit, in any state or federal Court, arbitration, or 14 administrative, regulatory or other proceeding or order in any jurisdiction based on Settlement 15 Class Released Claims in this Action; and (ii) organizing such non-excluded Class Members 16 into a separate Class for purposes of pursuing as a purported Class Action (including by seeking 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 to amend a pending complaint to include Class allegations, or by seeking Class certification in a pending Action) any lawsuit based on the Settlement Class Released Claims in this Action. 16. The Parties are authorized, without further approval from the Court, to agree to and to adopt such amendments, modifications and expansions of the Stipulation and all exhibits attached thereto which (i) are consistent with this Final Judgment, and (ii) do not limit the rights of Class Members under the Stipulation. 17. The Court grants a Class Representative Enhancement award of $7,500.00 to Jarrid Whitley. This request is justified in light of the following facts: (1) Plaintiff spent numerous hours conferring with Plaintiff’s Attorney, reviewing documents, interviewing witnesses, gathering evidence, formulating discovery requests, responding to discovery, and 27 28 FINAL JUDGMENT 5 _______________________________ FINAL JUDGMENT 1 preparing for and participating in a mediation; (2) Plaintiff’s efforts resulted in a favorable result 2 for the Class; and (3) Defendant did not oppose the request. The Class Representative 3 Enhancement will be paid to Plaintiff in accordance with the terms of the Stipulation. 4 18. The Court grants Plaintiff’s Attorney request for an award of Plaintiff’s 5 Attorney’s Fees in the amount of $277,200.00 and Plaintiff’s Expenses, including CPT Class 6 Administration costs in the amount of $54,746.00. Plaintiff’s Attorney request an award of 7 reasonable Attorney’s Fees and costs justified in light of the following facts: (1) Plaintiff’s 8 Attorney vigorously prosecuted this case and achieved a favorable result for the Class; (2) the 9 legal issues were novel and complex; (3) Defendant did not oppose the request; and (4) such 10 other bases as offered by Plaintiff’s Attorney. The Attorney’s Fees and costs shall be paid by 11 the Claims Administrator in accordance with the terms of this Judgment. 12 19. Without affecting the Finality of the Final Judgment, the Court shall 13 retain continuing jurisdiction over the Action, and the Parties and Settlement Class, and the 14 administration and enforcement or implementation of the Settlement shall be presented by 15 motion to the Court; provided however, that nothing in this paragraph shall restrict the ability of 16 the Parties to exercise their rights hereunder. 17 18 IT IS SO ORDERED Dated: October 5, 2015 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 FINAL JUDGMENT 6 _______________________________ FINAL JUDGMENT
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