Judge: David S. Cunningham, Case: 19STCV33514, Date: 2022-09-09 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 19STCV33514    Hearing Date: September 9, 2022    Dept: 11

Final Approval of Class Action Settlement

Department SSC-11

BRYSON v. MADAME TUSSAUDS HOLLYWOOD, LLC, et al. (Case No: 19STCV33514)

Hearing Date: September 9, 2022

TENTATIVE RULING

In reviewing your motion for final approval of class action settlement, the Court orders further briefing as to the items discussed below.

All filings in response to this ruling must be submitted 16 court days before the next final approval hearing date.  

Your hearing date set for ______________, is continued to the first available date of  __________ at _____ in Department 11.

The escalator clause at Settlement Agreement ¶3.04.g triggers if the final number of workweeks exceeds 20,027, based on Defendants’ representation that there were approximately 19,073 total workweeks at the time the parties executed their Memorandum of Understanding. In other words, the clause triggers upon an approximate 5% increase in the workweek total.

At final approval, the administrator states that there are 422 Class Members (Quiroz Decl. ¶5), which is a 23.7% class size increase from the estimate of 341 class members provided at preliminary approval (Hawkins Decl. ISO Prelim ¶61.)

However, the final number of workweeks was not provided to the Court, nor any information as to whether the number increased. Further, there is no indication that the settlement amount was increased in any way based on the number of class members. Based on the increased class size, counsel and/or the administrator need to provide the following information:

·         Did the workweeks increase based on the increased class size? What is the final number?

·         If the workweeks increased to the point of triggering the escalator clause, and the settlement amount was not increased, why is this proper? Why is the settlement amount still adequate and reasonable to the class?

Date: ___________, 2022                                          _____________________________

JUDICIAL OFFICER