Judge: William D. Claster, Case: 19-01089455, Date: 2022-11-04 Tentative Ruling

Plaintiffs Martin Torres and Frank Gonda's Notice of Motion and Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, Attorneys' Fees and Expenses, and Enhancement Award ROA 196

Plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of class action settlement is GRANTED. 

The objections of class members Million Yirgu and Balwinder Rajput are OVERRULED.  Yirgu appears to object on the ground that he believes he is still owed money following his alleged wrongful termination.  Assuming Yirgu means that he believes he is owed more money than the settlement will pay him, he has not demonstrated this is reason to set aside the entire class settlement.  In any event, the class release does not cover wrongful termination claims.  Rajput’s objection form is blank, with no reason stated for objecting.

The Court approves the following distributions:

1.    Attorney’s fees in the amount of $240,000, or 30% of the GSA.  The Court finds this amount to be a reasonable result in light of the quality of the result obtained, the work performed by class counsel, a review of the billing records provided, and the estimated lodestar.  In approving these amounts and examining the billing records provided, the Court is not approving any particular hourly billing rates proposed by class counsel. 

2.    Litigation costs in the amount of $10,109, representing the full amount sought by both firms. 

3.    Administration costs in the amount of $21,000, per the administrator’s declaration.

4.    Enhancements of $5,000 apiece to Plaintiffs.  In making this award, the Court has considered only the factors set forth in Golba v. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 1251 and Clark v. Am. Residential Servs. LLC (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 785.

5.    Payment to the LWDA of $22,500, representing the LWDA’s share of the amount allocated to the PAGA claim.

Please submit a revised proposed order that conforms to the foregoing for the Court’s signature and identifies by name the class members who opted out.

Pursuant to CCP § 384(b), Plaintiffs shall submit to the Court a final report on or before June 9, 2023 setting forth the actual amounts paid to class members and other amounts disbursed pursuant to the settlement.  Upon receiving the report, the Court will determine whether further reports and/or a hearing will be necessary.