Amidi v. SBC Global Services, Inc et al, No. 3:2008cv00858 - Document 41 (S.D. Cal. 2009)
Court Description: ORDER granting FINAL APPROVALOF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT 38 . Signed by Magistrate Judge William McCurine, Jr on 6/16/09. (av1)
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Amidi v. SBC Global Services, Inc et al Doc. 41 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 ERFAN “ERIC” AMIDI, on behalf of himself and all others similarlysituated, 13 Plaintiffs, 14 15 16 17 18 19 ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT v. SBC LONG DISTANCE, LLC, a Delaware Corporation, AT&T OPERATIONS, INC., a Delaware Corporation, and DOES 1 through 100, Inclusive, 20 21 CASE NO. 08CV0858 WMC Date: Time: Dept: May 27, 2009 2:00 p.m. Courtroom C Complaint Filed: May 13, 2008 TRIAL DATE: NONE SET Defendants. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 08CV0858 WQH (WMC) Dockets.Justia.com 1 On May 27, 2009, a hearing was held on the Motion of Plaintiff Erfan 2 Amidi (“Plaintiff”) for Order Granting Final Court Approval of Class Action 3 Settlement. Diana Khoury and Jason Hill, appeared for Plaintiff; Deborah Weiser 4 of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP appeared for defendants SBC Long 5 Distance, LLC and AT&T Operations, Inc. (“Defendants”). 6 7 The parties have submitted their Settlement Agreement and Joint 8 Stipulation evidencing their proposed settlement (the “Settlement”), which this 9 Court preliminarily approved in its January 21, 2009, Order. In accordance with 10 the preliminary approval order, Class Members have been given notice of the terms 11 of the Settlement and the opportunity to object to it or to exclude themselves from 12 its provisions. In addition, pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, 28 13 U.S.C. § 1715 (“CAFA”), the United States Attorney General and the Attorneys 14 General of the States in which all Class Members reside. 15 16 Having received and considered the Settlement, the supporting papers 17 filed by the parties, and the evidence and argument received by the Court at the 18 preliminary approval hearing held on January 22, 2009, and the final approval 19 hearing on May 27, 2009, the Court grants final approval to the Settlement, and 20 HEREBY ORDERS and MAKES DETERMINATIONS as follows: 21 22 1. Pursuant to this Court’s order of January 22, 2009, a Notice of Class 23 Action Settlement, Claim Form, and Exclusion Form were sent to each 24 Class Member by first-class mail. These papers informed Class 25 Members of the terms of the Settlement, their right to object to the 26 Settlement or to elect not to participate in the Settlement and pursue 27 their own remedies, and their right to appear in person or by counsel at 28 the final approval hearing and be heard regarding approval of the [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT -1- CASE NO. 08CV0858 WQH (WMC) 1 Settlement. Adequate periods of time were provided by each of these 2 procedures. No Class Members filed written objections to the 3 Settlement as part of this notice process or stated his or her intent to 4 appear at the final approval hearing. 5 6 2. For the reasons stated in the Court’s January 22, 2009 preliminary 7 approval order, the Court finds and determines that the proposed 8 Settlement Class, as defined in the definitions section of the Settlement 9 Agreement, meets all of the legal requirements for class certification, 10 and it is hereby ordered that the Settlement Class is finally approved 11 and certified as a class for purposes of settlement of this action. 12 13 3. The Court further finds and determines that the terms of the Settlement 14 are fair, reasonable and adequate to the class and to each Class 15 Member and that the Class Members who have not opted out shall by 16 bound by the Settlement, that the Settlement is ordered finally 17 approved, and that all terms and provisions of the Settlement should be 18 and hereby are ordered to be consummated. 19 20 4. Excluded from the Settlement is the one (1) person who submitted a 21 valid and timely request for exclusion. Every person in the Class who 22 did not submit a timely Exclusion Form is a Class Member and shall 23 be bound by the Settlement. 24 25 5. The Settlement is not an admission by Defendants as to the merits of 26 the lawsuit or that either of them is appropriate for class treatment. 27 Nor is this Final Judgment a finding as to the validity of any claims in 28 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT -2- CASE NO. 08CV0858 WQH (WMC) 1 the lawsuit, its amenability to class certification, or any wrongdoing on 2 behalf of Defendants. 3 4 6. Pursuant to the Settlement, all Class Members (except for those who 5 filed Exclusion Forms) are permanently barred from prosecuting 6 against Defendants, and their former and present parents, subsidiaries, 7 and affiliated corporations and entities, and each of their respective 8 officers, directors, employees, partners, shareholders and agents, and 9 any other successors, assigns, or legal representatives, any individual 10 or class claims that were released as set forth in the Settlement, 11 excluding FLSA claims, only, by those Class Members who did not 12 submit claim forms pursuant to the Settlement. 13 14 7. The Court finds that the Class Notice provided to the Class Members 15 was the best notice practicable under the circumstances of these 16 proceedings and of the matters set forth therein, and that the Class 17 Notice fully satisfied the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil 18 Procedure, due process and any other applicable laws. The Court 19 further finds that Defendants fully complied with the notice 20 requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1715. 21 22 8. The Court finds and determines that the payments to be made to the 23 Participating Class Members as provided for in the Settlement are fair 24 and reasonable. The Court hereby gives final approval to and orders 25 the payment of those amounts be made to the Participating Class 26 Members out of the estimated $345,190 available from the Maximum 27 Settlement Amount to pay Participating Class Members in accordance 28 with the terms of the Settlement. [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT -3- CASE NO. 08CV0858 WQH (WMC) 1 9. The Court finds and determines that payment to the California Labor 2 Workforce and Development Agency (LWDA) of $5,000 as its share 3 of the Settlement of civil penalties in this case is fair, reasonable, and 4 appropriate; and the Settlement extinguishes Defendants’ liability for 5 civil penalties to the State of California, Plaintiff, or Class Members in 6 accordance with the Settlement. The Court hereby gives final approval 7 to and orders that the payment of that amount be paid out of the 8 Maximum Settlement Amount in accordance with the terms of the 9 Settlement. 10 11 10.The Court will enter a separate order with respect to Plaintiff’s motion 12 for an award of his Class Representative Enhancement, Class Counsel 13 Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, and Claims Administration Expenses. 14 15 11. Any court order regarding the application for Class Counsel’s 16 attorneys’ fees and Plaintiff’s incentive fees shall in no way disturb or 17 affect this Order and shall be considered separate from this Order. 18 19 12.Without affecting the finality of this Order in any way, this Court 20 hereby retains continuing jurisdiction over the interpretation, 21 implementation and enforcement of the Settlement and the payments 22 to be made under the Settlement. 23 24 13.The Parties shall bear their own attorneys’ fees and costs, except as 25 otherwise provided in the Stipulation of Settlement and the Court’s 26 Order Granting Award of Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, Class Representative 27 Enhancement, and Claims Administration Expenses. 28 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT -4- CASE NO. 08CV0858 WQH (WMC) _ 1 14.In the event that the Settlement does not become effective in 2 accordance with its terms, then this Judgment and Order and the 3 Settlement Agreement and General Release for the Class 4 Representative shall be rendered null and void to the extent provided 5 by and in accordance with the Stipulation of Settlement and shall be 6 vacated and, in such event, all orders entered in connection herewith 7 shall be null and void to the extent provided by and in accordance with 8 the Stipulation of Settlement. 9 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 12 Dated: June 16, 2009 WILLIA AM McCURINE, McCURIN NE, JR. WILLIAM 13 Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT -5- CASE NO. 08CV0858 WQH (WMC)
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