Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_10-cv-00058/USCOURTS-caed-2_10-cv-00058-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
CRST International, Inc.
Defendant
CRST Van Expedited, Inc.
Defendant
CRST, Inc.
Defendant
Robert Gatdula
Plaintiff
Dean Ramirez
Plaintiff

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STIPULATION AND ORDER

Dennis F. Moss - State Bar No. 77512

Gregory N. Karasik - State Bar No. 115834

Spiro Moss LLP

11377 W. Olympic Boulevard, 5th Floor

Los Angeles, California 90064-1683

Tel.: (310) 235-2468; Fax: (310) 235-2456

dennisfmoss@yahoo.com

greg@spiromoss.com

Alexander I. Dychter - State Bar No. 234526

Dychter Law Offices, APC

625 Broadway, Suite 600

Tel: (619) 487-0777; Fax: (619) 330-1827

alex@dychterlaw.com

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

ROBERT GATDULA and

DEAN RAMIREZ

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ROBERT GATDULA and DEAN RAMIREZ,

individually and on behalf of others similarly

situated,

Plaintiffs,

vs.

CRST INTERNATIONAL, INC.; CRST, INC.;

CRST VAN EXPEDITED, INC. and DOES 1

through 10,

Defendants.

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Case No. 10-CV-0058-WBS-CMK

STIPULATION FOR STAY AND TOLLING

OF FLSA STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

PENDING RULINGS IN POTENTIALLY

RELATED CASES, AND DISMISSAL OF

DEFENDANTS CRST INTERNATIONAL,

INC. AND CRST, INC. WITHOUT

PREJUDICE and [proposed] ORDER

THEREON

Plaintiffs Robert Gatdula and Dean Ramirez (“Plaintiffs”), and defendants CRST International,

Inc. and CRST Van Expedited, Inc. (“Defendants”), by and through their respective counsel, hereby

enter into the following stipulation and mutually request the Court to enter an order thereon.

STIPULATION

1. Plaintiffs commenced this action on January 8, 2010. In their complaint, Plaintiffs

assert claims for failure to pay minimum wages in violation of the FLSA. Plaintiffs seek to pursue

those claims as a collective action on behalf of similarly situated employees pursuant to 29 U.S.C. §

216(b).

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STIPULATION AND ORDER

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Plaintiffs also assert various claims for violation of California law which Plaintiffs seek to maintain as

a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

2. On January 28, 2010, Defendants waived service of summons pursuant to the request of

Plaintiffs which was made on January 14, 2010, such that Defendants’ answer to the complaint is

presently due on March 15, 2010.

3. Subsequent to the filing of this action, Plaintiffs learned of other lawsuits which

Defendants contend are related to this action. These potentially related cases include Morrison et al. v.

CRST Van Expedited Inc., Case No. CV 09-5638, and Cole v. CRST Van Expedited, Inc., Case No.

EDCV 08-1570, both of which are pending in the United States District Court, Central District of

California, and have been assigned to Judge Virginia Phillips. In Morrison and Cole, the plaintiffs

assert various claims for violation of California law which the plaintiffs seek to maintain as a class

action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Some but not all of the state law claims

asserted by Plaintiffs are similar to state law claims asserted in Morrison and/or Cole.

4. The following motions are presently scheduled for hearing on April 19, 2010 before

Judge Phillips: (a) the plaintiff’s motion for class certification in Cole; and (b) the defendants’ motion

for partial summary judgment in Cole. The plaintiff’s motion for class certification in Morrison has

been argued and is currently under advisement pending the ruling on the plaintiff’s motion for class

certification in Cole. Based on the outcome of those motions, Plaintiffs will decide to what extent they

wish to pursue their state law claims in this case. Plaintiffs anticipate that either certain claims will be

dismissed, which may result in this action not being related to either Morrison or Cole, or that Plaintiffs

will agree that this case should be deemed related to Morrison and/or Cole and transferred to Judge

Phillips.

5. While the statute of limitations on Plaintiffs’ state law claims was tolled by law for other

members of the putative class upon the filing of the complaint, the statute of limitations on Plaintiffs’

claims under the FLSA was not tolled by operation of law. Under the FLSA, the statute of limitations

continues to run until a plaintiff files a consent to participate in the action.

6. To conserve the resources of the parties and the Court, the parties have agreed that this

action should be stayed, and the statute of limitations for Plaintiffs’ claims under the FLSA should be

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STIPULATION AND ORDER

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tolled, pending a ruling by Judge Phillips on the motions pending in the Morrison and Cole cases.

7. Based on the representations of Defendants that CRST International, Inc. and CRST,

Inc. are not appropriate defendants in this case, along with documents supporting those assertions,

Plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss the claims against those defendants without prejudice.

8. The parties mutually request the Court to approve this stipulation and enter an order

staying this action pending the earlier of (a) rulings by Judge Phillips on the motions in the Morrison

and Cole cases, tolling the statute of limitations on Plaintiffs’ FLSA claims pending rulings by Judge

Phillips on the motions in the Morrison and Cole cases, or (b) 30-days advance written notice to

terminate given by either party, and dismissing without prejudice Plaintiffs’ claims against defendants

CRST International, Inc. and CRST, Inc.

DATED: March 10, 2010 SPIRO MOSS LLP

DYCHTER LAW OFFICES, APC

By: /s/ Alexander I. Dychter

Alexander I. Dychter

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

ROBERT GATDULA

and DEAN RAMIREZ

Dated: March 10, 2010 SCOPELITIS, GARVIN, LIGHT, HANSON & FEARY, PC

By /s/ James H. Hanson

James H. Hanson

Attorneys for Defendants

CRST INTERNATIONAL, INC., CRST, INC.

and CRST VAN EXPEDITED, INC.

ORDER

The foregoing stipulation is hereby approved by the Court and it is hereby ordered that:

1. This action shall be stayed, and the statute of limitations on Plaintiffs’ claims under the

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STIPULATION AND ORDER

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FLSA shall be tolled, pending rulings by Judge Phillips on the motions presently scheduled for hearing

on April 19, 2010 in the Morrison and Cole cases, which stay and tolling may be terminated by either

party upon 30-days advance written notice to the other.

2. Plaintiffs’ claims against defendants CRST International, Inc. and CRST, Inc. are

dismissed without prejudice.

3. The Clerk is directed to administratively close this file until the stay is lifted.

Dated: March 12, 2010

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