Williams v. Perdue Farms Inc. et al, No. 3:2019cv07671 - Document 77 (N.D. Cal. 2023)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND CERTIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT CLASSES. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on 1/27/2023. (mmclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 1/27/2023)
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Williams v. Perdue Farms Inc. et al 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Doc. 77 Shaun Setareh (Cal. State Bar No. 204514) shaun@setarehlaw.com William M. Pao (Cal. State Bar No. 219846) william@setarehlaw.com Jose Maria D. Patino, Jr. (Cal. State Bar No. 270194) jose@setarehlaw.com SETAREH LAW GROUP 9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 430 Beverly Hills, California 90212 Telephone (310) 888-7771 Facsimile (310) 888-0109 Attorneys for Plaintiff RONNIE WILLIAMS 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 RONNIE WILLIAMS, on behalf of himself, all others similarly situated, 13 Plaintiff, 14 vs. 15 16 17 18 19 20 PERDUE FARMS INC., a Maryland corporation; PERDUE FOODS LLC, a Maryland limited liability company; PETALUMA ACQUISITION, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; COLEMAN NATURAL PRODUCTS, INC., a Delaware corporation; COLEMAN NATURAL FOODS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, 21 Defendants. 22 Case No.: 3:19-CV-07671-MMC [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND CERTIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT CLASSES Date: Time: Judge: Place: January 27, 2023 9:00 a.m. Hon. Maxine M. Chesney Courtroom 7 450 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 Action Filed: Action Removed: FAC Filed: October 11, 2019 November 21, 2019 March 16, 2020 23 24 25 26 27 28 -1[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Dockets.Justia.com 1 On January 27, 2023, a hearing was held on the motion of plaintiff Ronnie Williams 2 (“Plaintiff”) for final approval of his class action and PAGA settlement (the “Settlement”) (Dkt. 3 68-1) with Defendants PERDUE FARMS INC., PERDUE FOODS LLC, PETALUMA 4 ACQUISITION, LLC, COLEMAN NATURAL PRODUCTS, INC., and COLEMAN NATURAL 5 FOODS, LLC. (collectively, “Defendants”) (Plaintiff and Defendants, collectively, the “Parties”). 6 The Parties have submitted their Settlement, which this Court preliminarily approved by 7 its August 26, 2022 order (Dkt. 71) (“Preliminary Approval Order”). In accordance with the 8 Preliminary Approval Order, Class Members have been given notice of the terms of the Settlement 9 and the opportunity to comment on or object to it or to exclude themselves from it. 10 Having received and considered the Settlement, the supporting papers filed by the Parties 11 and the evidence and argument received by the Court at the hearing before it entered the 12 Preliminary Approval Order and the final approval hearing on January 27, 2023, the Court grants 13 final approval of the Settlement, and HEREBY ORDERS and MAKES DETERMINATIONS as 14 follows: 15 16 17 1. The following persons are hereby certified as class members for the purpose of entering a settlement in this matter: I. Cause of Action No. 2 – Failure to Provide Meal Periods: All persons employed 18 by Defendants at any time in an hourly or non-exempt position in California 19 from May 26, 2019 until February 11, 2022. 20 II. Cause of Action No. 3 – Failure to Provide Rest Periods: All persons employed 21 by Defendants at any time in an hourly or non-exempt position in California 22 from October 11, 2015 until February 11, 2022. 23 III. Cause of Action No. 4 – Failure to Pay Hourly Wages: All persons employed 24 by Defendants at any time in an hourly or non-exempt position in California 25 from May 26, 2019 until February 11, 2022. 26 IV. Cause of Action No. 5 – Failure to Indemnify: All persons employed by 27 Defendants in California who incurred business expenses at any time from 28 October 11, 2015 until February 11, 2022. This includes both non-exempt and -2[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT 1 exempt employees and will be specifically referred to as the “Reimbursement 2 Class.” 3 V. Cause of Action No. 6 – Failure to Provide Accurate Written Wage Statements: 4 All persons employed by Defendants at any time in an hourly or non-exempt 5 position in California from July 18, 2020 until February 11, 2022. 6 VI. Cause of Action No. 7 – Failure to Timely Pay All Final Wages: All persons 7 employed by Defendants at any time in an hourly or non-exempt position in 8 California who separated from their employment with Defendants at any time 9 from May 26, 2019 until February 11, 2022. 10 VII. Cause of Action No. 8 – Failure to Pay Wages Without Discount: All persons 11 employed by Defendants at any time in California who were paid their wages 12 with a pay card and were not paid all earned wages at any time from May 26, 13 2019 until February 11, 2022. 14 VIII. Cause of Action No. 9 – Unfair Competition: All persons employed by 15 Defendants at any time in an hourly or non-exempt position in California from 16 May 26, 2019 until February 11, 2022. 17 2. For the reasons stated in the Preliminary Approval Order, the Court finds and 18 determines that the above-referenced classes meet all of the legal requirements for class action 19 certification, and it is hereby ordered that the Classes I through VIII in paragraph 1, above, are 20 certified solely for purposes of the Settlement pursuant to Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil 21 Procedure. 22 3. Having submitted timely and valid Requests for Exclusion, the following persons 23 are hereby excluded from the Settlement pursuant to its terms and are not joined as Class Members: 24 Melvin Barnett, Adonay Efriem, Ftsum Efriem Hantal, and Mario Garcia Santana Jr. 25 26 27 28 4. The Court designates Plaintiff Ronnie Williams as Class Representative and designates Shaun Setareh and William M. Pao of Setareh Law Group as Class Counsel. 5. Pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1711 et seq. (“CAFA”), not later than ten days after the Parties’ joint motion seeking preliminary approval of the Settlement -3[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT 1 was filed in court, Defendants served upon the Attorney General of the United States and the 2 appropriate state official of each state in which a Class Member resides a notice of the Settlement 3 consisting of: a copy of the pleadings in this action; a notice of the scheduled judicial hearings in 4 this action; copies of the Settlement and Class Notice Packets; and the names of Class Members 5 who reside in each state and the estimated proportionate share of the Class Members in each state 6 compared to the entire Settlement. The notice of Settlement also invited comment on the 7 Settlement. Accordingly, the Court finds that Defendants have discharged their obligations under 8 CAFA to provide notice to the appropriate federal and state officials. 9 6. Pursuant to the Preliminary Approval Order, a Notice of Proposed Class Action and 10 PAGA Settlement and the Request for Exclusion Form were sent to each Class Member by first- 11 class mail. These papers informed Class Members of the terms of the Settlement, their respective 12 right to receive an Individual Settlement Payment, their right to comment on or object to the 13 Settlement, their right to opt out of the Settlement and pursue their own remedies, and their right 14 to appear in person or by counsel at the final approval hearing and be heard regarding approval of 15 the Settlement. Adequate periods of time were provided by each of these procedures. No Class 16 Members objected to the Settlement as part of this notice process or stated an intent to appear at 17 the final approval hearing. 18 7. The Court finds and determines that this notice procedure afforded adequate 19 protections to Class Members and provides the basis for the Court to make an informed decision 20 regarding approval of the Settlement based on the responses of Class Members. The Court finds 21 and determines that the notice provided in this case was the best notice practicable, which satisfied 22 the requirements of law and due process. 23 8. No objections were raised by any Class Members. 24 9. The Court further finds and determines that the terms of the Settlement are fair, 25 reasonable, and adequate to the Classes and to each Class Member; that the California Class 26 Members who have not opted out will be bound by the Settlement; that the Settlement is ordered 27 finally approved; and that all terms and provisions of the Settlement should be and hereby are 28 ordered to be consummated. -4[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT 1 10. The Court finds and determines that the Maximum Settlement Amount of 2 $1,775,000 and the Individual Settlement Payments to be paid out of that amount to the 3 Participating Class Members (Class Members who did not timely submit a valid Request for 4 Exclusion Form), as provided for by the Settlement, are fair and reasonable. The Court hereby 5 gives final approval to and orders the payment of those amounts to be made to the Participating 6 Class Members out of the Net Settlement Amount in accordance with the Settlement. 7 11. The Court finds and determines that the fees and expenses of Simpluris, Inc. in 8 administrating the settlement, in the amount of $14,170.00, are fair and reasonable. The Court 9 hereby gives final approval to and orders that the payment of $14,170.00 be paid out of the 10 11 Maximum Settlement Amount in accordance with the Settlement. 12. In addition to any recovery that Plaintiff may receive from the Net Settlement 12 Amount, and in recognition of the Plaintiff’s efforts on behalf of the Settlement Class, the Court 13 hereby approves the payment of an Class Representative Service Award to Plaintiff in the amount 14 of $5,500. This shall be paid from the Maximum Settlement Amount. 15 13. Pursuant to the authorities and argument presented to the Court, the Court approves 16 the payment of attorneys’ fees to Class Counsel in the sum of $443,750.00, plus costs and expenses 17 in the amount of $20,875.87. This shall be paid from the Maximum Settlement Amount. 18 14. The Court finds fair and reasonable the allocation of $100,000 of the Maximum 19 Settlement Amount to penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act, with $75,000 thereof to 20 be paid to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and $25,000 thereof to be 21 paid to the Participating Class Members. 22 15. Without affecting the finality of this order in any way, the Court retains jurisdiction 23 of all matters relating to the interpretation, administration, implementation, effectuation, and 24 enforcement of this order and the Settlement. 25 26 27 16. Upon completion of administration of the Settlement, the Settlement Administrator will provide written certification of such completion to the Court and counsel for the Parties. 17. The Parties are hereby ordered to comply with the terms of the Settlement. 28 -5[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT 1 2 18. The Parties shall bear his, her, its or their own respective attorneys’ fees and costs except as otherwise provided in the Settlement. 3 4 5 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: January 27, 2023 ________________________________ ________ _ _______________________ ____ _ Th he Ho H norable Maxine M. Chesne ey The Honorable Chesney District Court Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -6- [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT
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