Judge: William D. Claster, Case: 21-01178139, Date: 2023-01-06 Tentative Ruling
Plaintiff Sidney Judge's
Notice of Motion and Motion for Approval of PAGA Settlement ROA 108
The Court has reviewed the
supplemental briefing filed in response to the prior minute order.
Plaintiff’s motion for approval of the parties’ PAGA settlement is GRANTED.
The Court finds the parties’ settlement as amended is “fair, reasonable, and
adequate in view of PAGA’s purposes to remediate present labor law
violations, deter future ones, and to maximize enforcement of state labor
laws.” (Moniz v. Adecco USA, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 56, 72.) The
Court also approves the current form of the notice.
The Court approves the
following distributions:
- Attorney’s fees in the amount of $26,800.
This sum, when added to the $51,200 in fees Plaintiff’s counsel is
receiving as part of the individual settlement (which settlement is
contingent on approval of the PAGA settlement), amounts to 30% of the
$260,000 total settlement package ($55,000 for the individual settlement
and $205,000 for the PAGA settlement). The Court finds this amount to
be a reasonable result in light of the quality of the result obtained,
the work performed by counsel, a review of the billing records provided,
and the estimated lodestar. In approving this amount and examining the
billing records provided, the Court is not approving any particular
hourly billing rates proposed by counsel.
- Litigation costs in the amount of
$4,856, representing the full amount sought.
- Administration costs in the amount of
$2,950, per the administrator’s bid.
- An enhancement to Plaintiff of $2,500.
In making this award, the Court has considered both the amount of
Plaintiff’s separate individual settlement and the factors discussed 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.
- Taking the above distributions into
account, from the GSA of $205,000, $167,894 remains to be distributed as
provided under PAGA. This amount shall be allocated 75% to the LWDA and
25% to the aggrieved employees.
The administrator is to file a
declaration no later than August 11, 2023 to confirm that the distribution of
funds to aggrieved employees is complete. Upon receipt of the
administrator’s declaration, the Court will determine whether further
briefing or a hearing is necessary.
Please submit a revised
proposed order that conforms to the foregoing for the Court’s signature.
