Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 21STCV11887, Date: 2023-10-04 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV11887    Hearing Date: October 4, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

            Plaintiff’s motion for final approval of the Class Action and PAGA settlement is GRANTED.

            On 3/29/2021, Plaintiff Luis Sanchez (Plaintiff) on behalf of himself and other aggrieved employees filed suit against Brink’s Incorporated and Dunbar Armored, Inc., seek civil penalties pursuant to the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA), and Labor Code section 2698, et seq.

            On 7/13/2023, this Court granted preliminary approval of the Class Action and PAGA settlement.

            Now, Plaintiffs move for final approval of the class action settlement.

            The motion is unopposed. 

Discussion

The Class Action and PAGA Settlement Agreement and Class Action Notice (Settlement Agreement) provide for the following:

(1) A non-reversionary Gross Settlement Amount of $2,600,000.00 allocated to approximately 2,386 Class Members on a pro rata basis according to the number of weeks each Class Member worked during the Class Period;

(2) An award of up to one-third of the Gross Settlement Amount (currently $866,666.67) and up to $50,000.00 in reimbursement of costs to Plaintiffs’ Counsel for services rendered as counsel on this matter;

(3) Incentive Award of up to $10,000.00 to each Plaintiff ($40,000.00 in total);

(4) Settlement Administration fees and costs of up to $20,550.00; and

(5) Payment to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) of $100,000.00 for civil penalties pursuant to PAGA. Seventy-five percent (75%) of this payment will be paid to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA Payment), and twenty-five percent (25%) will be paid to the Net Settlement Amount for distribution to Class Members.

Reasonableness and fairness are presumed where (1) the settlement is reached through “arms-length bargaining”; (2) investigation and discovery are “sufficient to allow counsel and the court to act intelligently”; (3) counsel is “experienced in similar litigation”; and (4) the percentage of objectors “is small.” (Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996). 48 Cal. App. 4th 1794, 1802.)

The Court reviewed the proposed settlement for these conditions in its 7/13/2023 ruling on the motion for preliminary approval. At preliminary approval, Plaintiffs presented evidence that the Settlement is entitled to a presumption of fairness because (1) the Settlement was reached through arm’s length bargaining after formal mediation, (2) Plaintiffs conducted investigation, including both formal and informal discovery, and analyzed Class Members’ time and payroll records, and (3) Plaintiffs’ counsel are sufficiently experienced to be appointed Class Counsel. (See Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Approval filed 3/28/2023.) Since then, the final Dunk factor has been satisfied: only two Class Member have opted out, and no Class Members objected. As such, nothing has changed since preliminary approval which would now negate the presumption of fairness previously found.

After review, the Court also finds the attorney fees requested—$866,666.67, roughly one-third of the preliminary approved GSA, and litigation costs of $26,193.12—to be reasonable. (See Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. (2008) 162 Cal. App. 4th 43, 66, n.11 (“fee awards in class actions average around one-third of the recovery.”).

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of the settlement is granted.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  October    , 2023

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.