Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-02577/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-02577-5/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 710
Nature of Suit: Fair Labor Standards Act
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Fair Labor Standards

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

AL SMITH, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

AMERICAN GREETINGS 

CORPORATION,

Defendant.

Case No. 14-cv-02577-JST 

ORDER RE MOTION FOR 

PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS 

ACTION SETTLEMENT

Re: ECF Nos. 35, 40, 42

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ unopposed motion for preliminary approval of the settlement 

and for certification of the settlement class. ECF No. 35. The matter came on for hearing on April 

30, 2015. As stated at the hearing, the parties have agreed to make the following changes to their 

settlement agreement, and resubmit it for approval: 

Cy pres: The agreement will be amended to provide that all funds will be distributed to 

participating class members, with the exception of funds allocated to, but not used for, settlement 

administration. Only this last category will be distributed to a cy pres recipient. 

Supplemental Notice: Having re-reviewed the notice provisions of the settlement 

agreement, the Court withdraws its comments at the hearing regarding the providing of 

supplemental notice to class members. The parties are not required to take further steps with 

regard to this item. This order supersedes Paragraph Two of the minutes from the April 30 

hearing. 

Form of Notice: the parties will make the following alterations in the form of notice: 

1. At question 14 on the proposed notice form, ECF No. 42, Ex. 1 at 6, the parties 

shall add the statement, “Class Counsel can provide additional information or 

answer questions you may have with regard to this settlement.” This statement 

shall be included in the textual paragraph under question 14 before the sentence 

that begins “If you want to be represented by your own lawyer . . . .”

2. In the text under question 22 of the proposed notice form, ECF No. 42, Ex. 1 at 8, 

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

the parties shall add language to the paragraph after the phrase, “or by going in 

person to . . . .” The full phrase shall read “or by going in person to the office of 

the Clerk of the Court at any of the locations of the District Court for the Northern 

District of California [website], between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, excluding Court holidays.” See Procedural Guidance for Class Action 

Settlements, available at 

http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/ClassActionSettlementGuidance (providing sample 

language).

3. The envelopes in which class members’ notice packets are mailed “should be 

designed to enhance the chance that [they] will be opened.” Id. Examples of 

envelopes that meet this requirement are available at the Federal Judicial Center 

website, www.fjc.gov, and specifically at 

http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/ClaAct03.pdf/$file/ClaAct03.pdf.

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Opt-Out Procedures: The parties will also make the following revisions to their suggested 

opt-out procedures:

1. Class members who wish to exclude themselves from the settlement need not 

provide their telephone numbers to Simpluris to do so. The language at question 12 

of the proposed notice form, ECF No. 42, Ex. 1 at 5, 7, should be adjusted 

accordingly.

2. Class members who wish to object to the settlement shall only be required to send 

their objections to the Clerk of this Court. See Procedural Guidance for Class 

Action Settlements, available at 

http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/ClassActionSettlementGuidance. “All objections 

will be scanned into the electronic case docket and the parties will receive 

electronic notices of filing.” Id.

3. The parties shall add a statement to the text under question 16 of the proposed 

notice form, ECF No. 42, Ex. 1 at 7, that instructs class members that the Court is 

unable to modify the settlement; the Court only has the power to approve or deny 

it. Sample language for this statement is available at 

http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/ClassActionSettlementGuidance. 

4. In the text under question 16 of the proposed notice form, ECF No. 42, Ex. 1 at 7, 

the parties shall remove the following language: “if, but only if, you state in your 

objection (or separately timely file and send to the Settlement Administrator) a 

Notice of Intention to Appear at the Final Approval Fairness Hearing.” The 

sentence from which that language is excised shall read, in its entirety, “If you 

make a timely objection, you may appear and be heard at the Final Approval 

Fairness Hearing, either in person or through an attorney of your choice (at your 

expense).” No class member shall be required to notify the parties or the Court that 

they will appear at the final fairness hearing. For the same reason, the text under 

question 20 of the proposed notice form, ECF No. 42, Ex. 1 at 8, shall be modified 

to read only: “If you object to the Settlement, you or your lawyer may speak in 

Court in support of that objection.” All other language shall be omitted.

/ / /

 

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The referenced page illustrates an envelope for a securities case, but the principles are easy to 

apply in other contexts. 

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The parties will submit a revised settlement agreement by May 22, 2015. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: May 1, 2015

______________________________________

JON S. TIGAR

United States District Judge

Case 3:14-cv-02577-JST Document 52 Filed 05/01/15 Page 3 of 3