Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_07-cv-02780/USCOURTS-cand-3_07-cv-02780-22/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 790
Nature of Suit: Other Labor Litigation
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition for Removal- Labor/Mgmnt. Relations

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Otsuka, et al. v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al. 

Case No. C-07-02780-SI 

STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS 

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Patrick R. Kitchin, Esq. (SBN. 162965) 

THE LAW OFFICE OF PATRICK R. KITCHIN 

565 Commercial Street, 4th Floor 

San Francisco, CA 94111 

415-677-9058

415-627-9076 (fax) 

Attorneys for Plaintiffs Janis Keefe, Corinne Phipps, 

Renee Davis, and the Certified Class 

William J. Goines (SBN 061290) 

Cindy Hamilton (SBN 217951) 

GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP 

1900 University Avenue, Fifth Floor 

East Palo Alto, CA 94303 

Telephone: (650) 328-8500 

Facsimile: (650) 328-8508 

Attorneys for Defendants Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation; 

Polo Retail, LLC; Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, doing 

business in California as Polo Retail Corporation; and 

Fashions Outlet of America, Inc. 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 

ANN OTSUKA, an individual; JANIS KEEFE, 

an individual; CORINNE PHIPPS, an 

individual; and RENEE DAVIS, an individual; 

individually and on behalf of all others similarly 

situated, 

 Plaintiffs, 

 vs. 

POLO RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION; a 

Delaware Corporation; POLO RETAIL, LLC., a

Delaware Corporation; POLO RALPH 

LAUREN CORPORATION, a Delaware 

Corporation, doing business in California as 

POLO RETAIL CORP; and FASHIONS 

OUTLET OF AMERICA, INC., a Delaware 

Corporation

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Defendants.

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Case No.: C-07-02780 SI 

STIPULATION AND ORDER 

REGARDING CLASS NOTICE 

TO NEW MEMBERS

JUDGE: Hon. Susan Illston 

LOCATION: Courtroom 10, 19th Floor 

450 Golden Gate Avenue 

San Francisco, California 94102 

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Case 3:07-cv-02780-SI Document 244 Filed 02/18/10 Page 1 of 7
Otsuka, et al. v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al. 

Case No. C-07-02780-SI 

STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS 

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 The parties enter into this stipulation regarding adding new members to the existing 

certified Class, as the Class defined in the Court’s Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class 

Certification of July 8, 2008. 

I. Additional Class Members Will Be Added to the Class.

The new members are prior Polo employees who terminated employment with Polo since 

August 31, 2009.

II. The Parties Agree On The Expiration of the Class Period for Non-Stayed Claims.

 The class period for all non-stayed claims expired on January 31, 2010. 

III. The Parties Agree that Defendants Must Produce Social Security Numbers For 

A Limited Number Of Class Members

 The parties agree that Defendants will promptly produce Social Security Numbers directly 

to Rosenthal & Co., the Class Action Administrator, for the limited number of individuals whose 

notices are returned as undeliverable. As soon as possible, Rosenthal & Co. will send out notices 

to these individuals. 

III. Class Notice Form

 The parties agree that the attached form, “Notice of Pendency of Class Action” will be 

sent.

IV. Timing Of Class Notice

 The Class Administrator, Rosenthal & Co., will mail the attached, agreed-upon, Notice to 

the new class members on or before February 23, 2010. Class members may opt out by mailing in 

the form on or before March 9, 2010. 

V. Conclusion And Summary Of Stipulation

 The parties, through their respective attorneys of record, hereby stipulate, with the Court’s 

permission, that, 

1. Additional ex-Polo employees will be added to the class, which is those individuals 

who terminated employment with Polo since August 31, 2009; 

2. The class period for all non-stayed claims expired on January 31, 2010; 

Case 3:07-cv-02780-SI Document 244 Filed 02/18/10 Page 2 of 7
Otsuka, et al. v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al. 

Case No. C-07-02780-SI 

STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS 

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3. The attached Notice will be sent; 

 4. Class notice will be mailed on or before February 23, 2010; 

 5. Class members will have 13 days from the date of mailing Class notices (i.e., 

March 9, 2010) to postmark and mail opt-out notices to Rosenthal & Co. 

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED. 

Dated: February 17, 2010 The Law Office of Patrick R. Kitchin 

/s/ Patrick R. Kitchin 

By: 

Patrick R. Kitchin, Esq. 

Attorneys for Plaintiffs’ Class 

Dated: February 17, 2010 Greenberg Traurig, LLP 

/s/ William J. Goines 

 By: 

 William J. Goines, Esq. 

 Attorneys for Defendants Polo Ralph Lauren 

Corporation; Polo Retail, LLC; Polo Ralph 

Lauren Corporation, doing business in 

California as Polo Retail Corporation; and 

Fashions Outlet of America, Inc. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

_______________________________________

 Judge, U.S. District Court 

Case 3:07-cv-02780-SI Document 244 Filed 02/18/10 Page 3 of 7
THIS NOTICE AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.

NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION

NOTICE TO FORMER EMPLOYEES OF POLO RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION, POLO RETAIL, LLC,

POLO RETAIL CORP., AND FASHIONS OUTLET OF AMERICA, INC. IN CALIFORNIA

Our records show you may be a member of a Class for whom a class action has been filed in the

United States District Court for the Northern District of California, entitled Otsuka, et al., v. Polo

Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al., Case No. C 07Ͳ02780 SI.This is a lawsuit brought on behalf of

certain former employees of Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, Polo Retail, LLC, and Fashion

Outlets of America, Inc. (otherwise known collectively as “Defendants”).  The Class

representatives are Janis Keefe, Corinne Phipps and Renee Davis (the Plaintiffs”), all former

employees of the defendants.

Who are members of the Class?

Class members are certain former sales associates and cashiers/customer service

representatives who worked at a Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, Polo Retail, LLC, Polo Retail

Corp. and/or Fashion Outlets of America, Inc. retail or outlet store in California between May

30, 2002 and the present.This case is a class action that seeks monetary recovery for alleged

unpaid wages, including unpaid overtime wages, waiting time penalties and punitive damages.

What is the lawsuit about?

Plaintiffs allege Defendants violated California’s employment laws and failed to pay their

employees all of their wages.Defendants deny the allegations in the Complaint and assert

they followed California and Federal law, and paid employees all of their wages.The Court has

not yet determined whether Plaintiffs’ or Defendants’ contentions are correct, or whether

Defendants are liable to pay any monetary amounts.

What do Plaintiffs claim?

3⁄4 Polo committed fraud by making false promises to certain of its employees regarding

their eligibility to receive premium overtime pay;

3⁄4 Polo failed to pay employees for the time they spent waiting for loss prevention or “bag

check” inspections after they had clocked out;

3⁄4 Polo failed to permit employees to take all of their rest breaks;

3⁄4 Polo failed to pay premium overtime wages to certain former employees;

3⁄4 Polo failed to timely pay all wages due at the end of Class members’ employment;

3⁄4 Polo failed to maintain accurate pay records for employees;

3⁄4 Polo misclassified certain sales employees as being exempt from being entitled to

premium overtime pay;

3⁄4 Polo breached contracts with certain of its former employees; and

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Case 3:07-cv-02780-SI Document 244 Filed 02/18/10 Page 4 of 7
3⁄4 Polo violated California’s Unfair Competition Law.

Class Action Ruling

The Court has ruled that this lawsuit may be maintained by the representative Plaintiffs on

behalf of the following Class:

“All former sales associates and cashiers who were employed in defendants’ retail and outlet

stores in the state of California between May 30, 2002 and the conclusion of this action.”

The Court also certified two subclasses of former employees of Defendants:

1. “All members of the class who were sales associates and were misclassified as

exempt inside commissioned salespeople.

2. All members of the class who were sales associates from whom the defendants took

back earned wages through its arrears program.”

Estimated Recovery

Plaintiffs seek to recover back wages, including unpaid wages for time spent waiting for and

undergoing loss prevention inspections, overtime wages, civil penalties and punitive damages,

as well as interest on these amounts, attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.  Individual Class

member’s potential recoveries will depend on several factors, including but not limited to

matters such as the amount of time the Class members worked for the Defendants.No trial has

yet been held and the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims have not been decided.

Rights and Obligations of Class Members

If you fall with the definition of the Class, you will automatically become a Class member in this

lawsuit. If you wish to be considered a member of the Class, you do not need to do anything

further at this time, and you should NOT SEND a request to opt out of the Class.

As a Class member:

x You will be represented by the named Class representatives and the attorneys

representing the Class.You will not be charged for this representation.If Plaintiffs win,

Plaintiffs’ counsel will ask the Court that they be paid reasonable compensation for their

representation of the Class. However, you may enter an appearance through your own

attorney, or on your own, by mailing a Notice of Appearance to the Clerk of the Court,

450 Golden Gate Avenue, 16th Floor, San Francisco, CA  94102. You may also ask the

Court for permission to appear as named Class coͲrepresentative.

x You will receive notice of any rulings affecting your membership in the Class and notice

of any proposed settlement or dismissal of Class claims or any judgment rendered for

Plaintiffs or Defendants.

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x You will be bound by a judgment or other final disposition of the class action lawsuit,

whether that disposition is favorable or not.

x You will be entitled to participate, upon meeting prerequisites set by the Court, in a

distribution of any monetary damages recovered in the litigation.

x You should retain all records and documents pertaining to the subject matter of this

case, including all wage and employee documents.

x You will be deemed to have consented to Defendants’ disclosing certain personally

identifiable information about you from Defendants’ records to counsel for the Class so

they may represent you and determine the amount of any monetary recovery to which

you may be entitled.Defendants have and/or will disclose your name, address, dates of

employment, payroll records, earnings records and timekeeping records.

x You should notify the Claims Administrator, Rosenthal & Company LLC, by fax (415) 892Ͳ

7354 or by mail: Otsuka v. Polo Class Action Administrator, c/o Rosenthal & Company

LLC, P.O. Box 6177, Novato, CA 94948Ͳ6177 of any change in your name, mailing

address, telephone number or email address.

Election to Not Participate in the Class (“Opting Out”)

If you want to be excluded from the Class, you must send a written notice of your intent to

exclude yourself from the Class, with the information included below, by mail postmarked no

later than March 9, 2010, to: Otsuka v. Polo Class Action Administrator, c/o Rosenthal &

Company LLC, P.O. Box 6177, Novato, CA 94948Ͳ6177.

Please include your full name (and if your name has changed since you were employed by

Defendants, your former name), your current mailing address, phone number, email address,

and a statement that you wish to be excluded from the Otsuka v. Polo Ralph Lauren lawsuit.

The choice to exclude yourself from the Class has certain consequences, and you may wish to

consult an attorney regarding this choice. If you elect to be excluded: (1) you will not be bound

by any judgment in the case and will retain any claims you may have against Defendants,

subject to applicable statutes of limitations, and (2) you will not share in any monetary or other

recovery that might be paid if the Class representatives are successful at trial or from any

settlement.

Status and Further Information

This lawsuit may continue from this date for a year or longer.  If you have any questions

concerning the matters in this Notice, please contact Plaintiffs’ counsel at The Law Office of

Patrick R. Kitchin, 565 Commercial Street, Fourth Floor, San Francisco, CA  94111,

prk@kitchinlegal.com, (415) 677Ͳ9058.

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Case 3:07-cv-02780-SI Document 244 Filed 02/18/10 Page 6 of 7
The pleadings and all other records of this litigation may be examined and copied any time

during the regular office hours in the office of the Clerk of the Court, United States District

Court, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA94102.

DO NOT CALL OR WRITE THE COURT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE.

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