Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-04461/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-04461-0/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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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CLAY TRIPP, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

CROSSMARK, INC., et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 13-cv-03480-WHO 

Consolidated with Case No. 14-cv-4461-

WHO

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY 

APPROVAL

Re: Dkt. No. 44

The Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement, filed by Plaintiffs Clay Tripp, 

Karen Solberg and Gayle Smith (“Plaintiffs”) was heard in Courtroom 12, the Honorable William 

H. Orrick presiding. All parties appeared by counsel of record.

Having received and considered the Plaintiffs’ motion, the Declarations of Eric A. Grover 

and Shawn C. Westrick, the Settlement Agreement and Release (the “Settlement Agreement”), the 

proposed Settlement Class Notice and Claim Forms, and the arguments of counsel presented to the 

Court at the hearing of this motion, and with GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, the Court hereby 

rules as follows:

1. The Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class 

Settlement.

2. The Court GRANTS preliminary approval of the terms and conditions contained 

in the Settlement Agreement. The Court finds that the terms of the Settlement 

Agreement are within the range of possible approval at the final approval hearing. 

Unless otherwise provided in this Order, all capitalized terms shall have the same 

meaning as set forth in the Settlement Agreement.

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3. The Court FINDS that the following two classes should be preliminarily certified 

for settlement purposes only:

a. “Settlement Class 1 (Hourly Class) Members” or “Settlement Class 1 

Members” means all hourly California employees of Defendants who 

worked in one or more of approximately 34 job codes covering the data 

collector, event specialist and retail representative job positions between 

June 4, 2009 and October 31, 2014, inclusive”; and

b. “Settlement Class 2 (Labor Code Section 212 Paycheck Class) Members” 

or “Settlement Class 2 Members” means all California employees of 

Defendants who worked at any time between June 4, 2009 and March 25, 

2013, inclusive, and who received at least one physical paycheck.” 

4. The Court FINDS that, for the purposes of approving this settlement, the 

proposed settlement Class meets the requirements of certification under Rule 23 

of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: (a) the proposed Classes are

ascertainable and so numerous that joinder of all members of each Class is 

impracticable; (b) there are questions of law or fact common to the proposed 

Class Members; (c) the claims of the named Plaintiffs are typical of the claims of 

the members of the proposed Classes and the named Plaintiffs are representative 

of the proposed Classes; (d) Plaintiffs’ Counsel Keller Grover LLP and 

Kawahito, Shraga & Westrick will fairly and adequately protect the interests of 

the proposed Classes; and (e) a class action is superior to the other available 

methods for an efficient resolution of this controversy.

5. The Court APPOINTS as Class Counsel Keller Grover LLP and Kawahito, 

Shraga & Westrick.

6. The Court APPROVES Plaintiffs Clay Tripp, Karen Solberg and Gayle Smith as 

Settlement Class Representatives.

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7. The Court APPROVES CPT Group as Claims Administrator for the purpose of 

this settlement. CPT Group is required to submit admissible evidence to support 

its request for payment in connection with the Final Approval Hearing;

8. The Court APPROVES the Settlement Class Notice, Claim Forms and mailing 

envelope – as edited – attached hereto as Exhibits 1, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C and 3, 

respectively. The Court finds that the notice procedure set forth in the Settlement 

Agreement, which includes the U.S. mail distribution of the Settlement Class 

Notice and Claim Forms and publication of the Settlement Website, constitute the 

best notice practicable under the circumstances and is in full compliance with the 

laws of the United States and the requirements of due process. The Court further 

finds that the Settlement Class Notice and Claim Forms – as edited – fully and 

accurately inform Class Members of all material elements of the Settlement 

Agreement, of each Class Member’s right to submit a claim, of each Class 

Member’s right to be excluded from the settlement, and of each Class Member’s 

right and opportunity to object to the settlement. The scope of release on the 

Class Notice has been edited, consistent with the parties’ agreement. Defendant 

shall provide the Class List to the Claims Administrator no later than 30 days 

from the date of this Order and the Claims Administrator shall send the Class 

Notice via first class mail to the most recent known address of each Class 

Member with the appropriate Claim Form no later than 45 days from the date of 

this Order.

9. The Claims Administrator shall publish the Settlement Website on the Internet at 

the URL www.CROSSMARKwagesettlement.com (or a similar one if that name 

is not available) and establish a toll-free phone number for Settlement Class 

Members to call to answer questions regarding their claims no later than 45 days 

from the date of this Order. The Settlement Website shall provide, free of 

charge, a viewable, printable and downloadable copy, in PDF file format, of 

each of the following documents: the Settlement Agreement; the complaint 

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and answer in the First Action and the Second Action; the Court's order 

preliminarily approving the settlement; the motions for final approval of the 

settlement and fees, costs, service award/general release payments and Claims 

Administrator’s fees. If feasible, the Settlement Website shall also allow for 

electronic submission of Claim Forms.

10. The Claims Administrator shall take all other actions in furtherance of obtaining 

correct mail address information for settlement Class Members, determination of 

Class Member payment amounts, receiving and processing Class Member 

challenges, opt-outs, and objections, and other claims administration functions, as 

are specified in the Settlement Agreement.

11. Class Members who wish to participate in the settlement shall have 60 days from 

the date the Settlement Class Notice and Claim Form are first mailed by the 

Claims Administrator the completely fill out, sign and postmark the appropriate 

Claim Form in the manner provided for in the Settlement Agreement.

12. The Court APPROVES the proposed procedure for the Class Members to submit 

a request for exclusion from the settlement. Any Class Member requesting 

exclusion from the settlement must mail a signed request for exclusion to the 

Claims Administrator so that it is postmarked no later than 60 days from the date 

the Settlement Class Notice and Claim Forms are first mailed by the Claims 

Administrator. Any Class Member who submits a valid and timely request for 

exclusion shall no longer be a member of the Class, shall be barred from 

participating in or objecting to this settlement, and shall receive no benefit from 

this settlement.

13. The Court further ORDERS that, as provided for in the Settlement Agreement 

and pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e)(5), each Class Member 

shall be given a full opportunity to object to the settlement, the plan of 

distribution, and the requests for attorneys’ fees, costs and the Settlement Class 

Representatives’ service award/general release payments. As explained in the 

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Settlement Class Notice, any Class Member seeking to object to the settlement 

shall submit that objection to the Claims Administrator and to the Court in 

writing no later than 60 calendar days after the date on which the Class Notice is 

first mailed. If objections have been received by the Claims Administrator or 

Class Counsel that have not been filed directly with the Court, Class Counsel 

shall provide copies of those objections as part of the final approval submission. 

Should any party wish to file a written response to any written objection 

submitted by a Class Member, that response shall be filed at least 10 calendar 

days prior to the Final Approval Hearing. 

14. The Court preliminarily APPROVES the proposed settlement of the California 

Labor Code section 2698, et seq. claims alleged in the Lawsuit and the allocation 

of $15,000 to settle those claims. Should final approval be granted, of that 

amount, and in accordance with California Labor Code section 2699(i), 75%, or 

$11,250, shall be paid to the State of California Labor and Workforce 

Development Agency and the remaining 25%, or $3,750, shall be allocated to the 

Net Settlement Fund and distributed in accordance with the terms of the 

Settlement Agreement.

15. Class Counsel shall file a motion for approval of reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, 

and litigation expenses and a motion for approval of the service award/general 

release payments for Settlement Class Representatives Tripp, Solberg and Smith

no later than 15 days after the Notice Date.

16. If the motion for final approval of the settlement will be unopposed, the motion 

and all supporting papers may be filed 14 calendar days before the Final 

Approval Hearing. The Final Approval Hearing may be adjourned or continued 

without further notice to the Class.

17. The Final Approval Hearing is scheduled for May 27, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. in 

Courtroom 2 of this Court, at which time the Court shall finally determine 

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whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. The date and time 

selected for the hearing must appear in the Settlement Class Notice.

18. Except as provided herein and as necessary to effectuate the Settlement 

Agreement, the action is hereby stayed in its entirety and all currently calendared 

events are hereby vacated unless and until the Court renders a final decision on 

approval of the Class Settlement.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated:

______________________________________

WILLIAM H. ORRICK

United States District Judge

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