Bush v. Vaco Technology Services, LLC et al, No. 5:2017cv05605 - Document 149 (N.D. Cal. 2022)
Court Description: ORDER GRANTING 143 MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT by Judge Beth Labson Freeman. (blflc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/26/2022)
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Bush v. Vaco Technology Services, LLC et al Doc. 149 Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shaun Setareh (SBN 204514) Thomas Segal (SBN 222791) SETAREH LAW GROUP 9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 430 Beverly Hills, California 90212 Telephone: (310) 888-7771 Facsimile: (310) 888-0109 shaun@setarehlaw.com thomas@setarehlaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiff CHRISTIANA BUSH 7 (additional counsel listed on next page) 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 12 CHRISTIANA BUSH, on behalf of herself, all others similarly situated, 13 No. 5:17-cv-05605-BLF [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION SETTLEMENT Plaintiff, 14 vs. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 VACO TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company; VACO SAN FRANCISCO, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company; VACO LAJOLLA, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company; VACO ORANGE COUNTY, LLC, a California limited liability company; VACO LOS ANGELES, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company; GOOGLE, INC., a Delaware corporation; and DOES 1 to 50, inclusive, Date: Time: Judge: Dept.: April 21, 2022 9:00 a.m. Hon. Beth Labson Freeman Courtroom 3 280 South First Street, 4th Floor San Jose, CA 95113 Action Filed: August 24, 2017 Date of Removal: September 27, 2017 5th Am. Complaint: February 22, 2021 Defendants. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -1- [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Dockets.Justia.com Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 2 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 Daniel B. Chammas (SBN 204825) Min K. Kim (SBN 305884) FORD & HARRISON LLP 350 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2300 Los Angeles, California 90071 Telephone: (213) 237-2400 Facsimile: (213) 237-2401 dchammas@fordharrison.com mkim@fordharrison.com Attorneys for Defendant VACO LLC 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Zachary P. Hutton (SBN 234737) Paul A. Holton (SBN 313047) PAUL HASTINGS LLP 101 California Street, 48th Floor San Francisco, California 94111 Telephone: (415) 856-7000 Facsimile: (415) 856-7100 zachhutton@paulhastings.com paulholton@paulhastings.com Attorneys for Defendant GOOGLE LLC 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -2[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 3 of 7 1 On April 21, 2022, a hearing was held on the joint motion of plaintiff Christiana Bush 2 (“Plaintiff”) and defendants Vaco LLC (“Vaco”) and Google LLC (“Google”) (Vaco and Google 3 are, collectively, “Defendants”) for final approval of their class and collective action settlement 4 (the “Settlement”). 5 The parties have submitted their Settlement, which this Court preliminarily approved by 6 its September 9, 2021 order (Dkt. 133) (“Preliminary Approval Order”). In accordance with the 7 Preliminary Approval Order, Class Members have been given notice of the terms of the Settlement 8 and the opportunity to comment on or object to it, to exclude themselves from its provisions, or to 9 opt into the Settlement. 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 April 21, 2022, the Court grants 13 final approval of the Settlement, and HEREBY ORDERS and MAKES DETERMINATIONS as 14 follows: 15 16 1. The following persons are hereby certified as class members for the purpose of entering a settlement in this matter: 17 I. The California Class: All persons employed by Vaco in California who were 18 assigned to work at Google in any of the roles of Order Audit Operation 19 Specialist, Content Bug Technician, Expedition Associate, and/or Expedition 20 Team Lead, at any time from August 12, 2013 through September 9, 2021. 21 II. The Expedition FLSA Class: All persons employed by Vaco in the United 22 States, but outside of California, who were assigned to work at Google in the 23 position of Expedition Associate and/or Expedition Team Lead at any time 24 from August 12, 2014 through September 9, 2021. 25 2. The Court certifies the California Class solely for purposes of Settlement pursuant 26 to Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and certifies the Expedition FLSA Class as a 27 collective action solely for purposes of Settlement, pursuant to section 16(b) of the Fair Labor 28 Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). -3[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 4 of 7 1 2 3 3. The Court designates Plaintiff Christiana Bush as Class Representative, and designates Shaun Setareh and Thomas Segal of Setareh Law Group as Class Counsel. 4. Pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1711 et seq. (“CAFA”), not 4 later than ten days after the Parties’ joint motion seeking preliminary approval of the Settlement 5 was filed in court, Defendants served upon the Attorney General of the United States and the 6 appropriate state official of each state in which a Class Member resides a notice of the Settlement 7 consisting of: a copy of the pleadings in this action; a notice of the scheduled judicial hearings in 8 this action; copies of the Settlement and Class Notice Packets; and the names of Class Members 9 who reside in each state and the estimated proportionate share of the Class Members in each state 10 compared to the entire Settlement. The notice of Settlement also invited comment on the 11 Settlement. Accordingly, the Court finds that Defendants have discharged their obligations under 12 CAFA to provide notice to the appropriate federal and state officials. 13 5. Pursuant to the Preliminary Approval Order, a Notice of Proposed Settlement and 14 Final Approval Hearing, and Notice of Estimated Settlement Award were sent to each Class 15 Member by first-class mail. These papers informed Class Members of the terms of the Settlement, 16 their respective right to receive a Settlement Share, their right to comment on or object to the 17 Settlement, to opt into the Settlement, or to opt out of the Settlement and pursue their own 18 remedies, and their right to appear in person or by counsel at the final approval hearing and be 19 heard regarding approval of the Settlement. Adequate periods of time were provided by each of 20 these procedures. No Class Members objected to the Settlement as part of this notice process or 21 stated an intent to appear at the final approval hearing. 22 6. The Court finds and determines that this notice procedure afforded adequate 23 protections to Class Members and provides the basis for the Court to make an informed decision 24 regarding approval of the Settlement based on the responses of Class Members. The Court finds 25 and determines that the notice provided in this case was the best notice practicable, which satisfied 26 the requirements of law and due process. 27 28 7. For the reasons stated in the Preliminary Approval Order, the Court finds and determines that the proposed classes meet all of the legal requirements for class and collective -4[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 5 of 7 1 action certification, and it is hereby ordered that the California Class is certified solely for purposes 2 of the Settlement pursuant to Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Expedition FLSA 3 Class is certified as a collective action solely for purposes of the Settlement, pursuant to section 4 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). 5 8. No objections were raised by any Class Members. 6 9. The Court further finds and determines that the terms of the Settlement are fair, 7 reasonable, and adequate to the Classes and to each Class Member, that the California Class 8 Members who have not opted out will be bound by the Settlement, that the Settlement is ordered 9 finally approved, and that all terms and provisions of the Settlement should be and hereby are 10 11 ordered to be consummated. 10. The Court finds and determines that the Settlement Shares to be paid to the 12 Participating Class Members (California Class Members who did not timely submit an Exclusion 13 Letter, and Expedition FLSA Class Members who timely submitted a valid Consent to Join 14 Settlement form), as provided for by the Settlement, are fair and reasonable. The Court hereby 15 gives final approval to and orders the payment of those amounts to be made to the Participating 16 Class Members out of the Net Settlement Amount in accordance with the Settlement. 17 11. The Court finds and determines that the fees and expenses of Phoenix Settlement 18 Administrators in administrating the settlement, in the amount of $7,250, are fair and reasonable. 19 The Court hereby gives final approval to and orders that the payment of approximately that amount 20 be paid out of the Total Settlement Amount in accordance with the Settlement. 21 12. In addition to any recovery that Plaintiff may receive from the Net Settlement 22 Amount, and in recognition of the Plaintiff’s efforts on behalf of the Settlement Class, the Court 23 hereby approves the payment of an incentive award to Plaintiff in the amount of $7,500. This 24 shall be paid from the Total Settlement Amount. 25 13. Pursuant to the authorities and argument presented to the Court, the Court approves 26 the payment of attorneys’ fees to Class Counsel in the sum of $420,000, plus costs and expenses 27 in the amount of $15,941.94. This shall be paid from the Total Settlement Amount. 28 -5[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 6 of 7 1 14. Without affecting the finality of this order in any way, the Court retains jurisdiction 2 of all matters relating to the interpretation, administration, implementation, effectuation, and 3 enforcement of this order and the Settlement. 4 5 6 15. 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. 16. The Court finds that in consideration of Plaintiff’s awarded Class Representative 7 Payment, Plaintiff’s Settlement Share, and the other terms and conditions of the Settlement, as of 8 the date the Settlement becomes Final, except as provided below, Plaintiff releases any and all 9 known and unknown claims against Vaco and Google and any of their present and former parents, 10 subsidiaries and affiliated companies or entities, and their respective officers, directors, 11 employees, partners, members, shareholders and agents, and any other successors, assigns and 12 legal representatives and their related persons and entities (collectively, “Released Parties”), and 13 waives the protection of California Civil Code section 1542. 14 17. The Court finds that in consideration for their awarded Settlement Shares, as of the 15 date the Settlement becomes Final, all California Class Members (other than those Class Members 16 who timely and validly elected not to participate in the Settlement) release any and all known and 17 unknown claims against Vaco, Google and the Released Parties based on the facts alleged in the 18 operative complaint, including that from August 12, 2013 through the date on which the Court 19 grants preliminary approval of the Settlement, Defendants failed to provide meal periods; provide 20 rest periods; pay hourly wages; pay overtime compensation; indemnify employees for business 21 expenses; provide accurate itemized wage statements; and pay all wages due to discharged and 22 quitting employees. The released claims include but are not limited to claims brought under 23 California Labor Code sections 201, 202, 203, 204, 223, 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1194.2, 1197, 24 1197.1, 1198, 2802, California Business and Professions Code sections 17200-17208, and the 25 Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders. Such claims include claims for wages, statutory 26 penalties, civil penalties, or other relief under the California Labor Code and any other related 27 state or municipal law, relief from unfair competition under California Business and Professions 28 Code section 17200 et seq.; attorneys’ fees and costs; and interest, and waives the protection of -6[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Case 5:17-cv-05605-BLF Document 149 Filed 04/26/22 Page 7 of 7 1 California Civil Code section 1542 with respect to such claims (the “California Class Members’ 2 Released Claims”). 3 18. The Court finds that in consideration for their awarded Settlement Shares, as of the 4 date the Settlement becomes Final, employees who are Expedition FLSA Class Members who 5 timely submitted consent forms to join the Settlement release any and all known and unknown 6 claims against Vaco, Google and the Released Parties that arise out of the allegations that, from 7 August 12, 2014 through the date on which the Court grants preliminary approval of the 8 Settlement, defendants failed to pay for all hours worked; failed to pay overtime wages; and failed 9 to keep accurate records of all hours worked. The released claims include but are not limited to 10 claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq., and any similar 11 federal, state, municipal or local laws. Such claims include claims for wages, statutory or civil 12 penalties, liquidated damages, interest, other relief, and claims for attorneys’ fees and costs (the 13 “Expedition FLSA Class Members’ Released Claims”). 14 19. The parties are hereby ordered to comply with the terms of the Settlement. 15 20. The parties shall bear his, her, its or their own respective attorneys’ fees and costs 16 except as otherwise provided in the Settlement and in this Order. 17 18 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. April 26 Dated: __________________, 2022 ________________________________ The Honorable Beth Labson Freeman District Court Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -7- [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT
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