IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

CAROLYN RUSIN, individually, and on 

behalf of All Others Similarly Situated,

Plaintiff,

v.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE COMPANY, 

Defendant.

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Case No. 1:12-cv-01135

Hon. Edmond E. Chang

JOINT MOTION TO AMEND THE ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL 

OF THE PARTIES’ CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

The Parties, through their counsel, move to modify the Court’s February 5, 2013 Order 

(ECF No. 30), granting preliminary approval of the Parties’ class action settlement agreement (1) 

to provide a supplemental Notice to Class Members, (2) to modify the date for Class Members to 

exclude or object to the Settlement, and (3) to re-schedule the Final Approval Hearing. In 

support of this motion, the Parties state as follows:

1. On February 5, 2013, this Court granted preliminary approval of the Parties’ 

Settlement Agreement which resolved the overtime claims of a class of persons who worked for 

Defendant as field reporters for Trib Local between February 7, 2009 and September 29, 2012.

2. Under the terms of the Parties’ Settlement, and as Ordered by the Court, the 

following deadlines were set:

a. Class Counsel shall mail the Class Notice to Class Members on February 

26, 2013 (ECF No. 30, ¶ 9);

b. On or before April 30, 2013, Class Members objecting to the terms of the 

Settlement must do so in writing. The written objection must be sent to the 

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Clerk of the Court and Class Counsel, postmarked on or before this date

(ECF No. 30, ¶ 10);

c. On or before April 30, 2013, Class Members who wish to exclude 

themselves from (opt out) the Settlement Class and not participate in the 

proposed Settlement must submit a written request for exclusion to Class 

Counsel. Class members submitting opt-out statements shall sign and date 

the statement, include their address and the last four digits of the social 

security number they used while working for Defendant, and shall send 

the request for exclusion to the Class Counsel (ECF No. 30, ¶ 11);

3. The Court’s order granting preliminary approval set a final approval hearing for 

June 4, 2013.

4. Following preliminary approval, and consistent with the Court’s order, Class 

Counsel issued notice to the 46 Class Members on February 26, 2012. 

5. Following the issuance of notice, thirty (30) class members contacted Class 

Counsel by telephone to get more information about the Settlement. Several class members 

indicated they thought they worked as a reporter for Trib Local for a longer period of time than 

as identified by the data produced by Chicago Tribune and one class member indicated working 

as a field reporter for less time than as identified by the data produced by Chicago Tribune. 

Class Counsel conferred with Defendant’s Counsel on the issues raised by Class Members. 

Defendant looked into the issues raised by Class Members and determined that the data they had 

provided to Plaintiff did in fact include incorrect dates of employment that certain Class 

Members worked as field reporters for Trib Local. 

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6. Defendant provided Class Counsel with supplemental and corrected data showing 

the dates that Class Members worked in the job position of field reporter for Trib Local. The last 

tranche of data was produced on April 29, 2013. Class Counsel reviewed that information and 

compared it to the data used to compute Class Members’ damages. Based on the corrected 

dates, Class Counsel recomputed Class Members’ pro rata shares consistent with Section V.9 of 

the Parties’ Settlement Agreement. 

7. Class Members’ revised pro rata shares are identified on Exhibit 2.

8. The Parties request that the Court approve the form of the letter and supplemental 

notice attached as Exhibit 3. The letter identifies the dates the class member worked in the field 

reporter job position and the supplemental notice contains their revised estimated pro rata shares.

9. Plaintiffs’ Counsel can distribute the revised notice within seven days after the 

Court approves the corrective notice. The Parties request that the Court modify the preliminary 

approval order to allow class members to file requests for exclusion or objections within twentyone (21) days of the mailing of the corrective notice. 

10. The Parties request that the Court modify the preliminary approval order to reschedule the final approval hearing to June 26, 2013. 

11. To date, no class member has filed an objection to the settlement and no class 

member has excluded himself or herself from the settlement.

WHEREFORE, the Parties respectfully request that this Court grant their Joint Motion 

To Amend the Order Granting Preliminary Approval of the Parties’ Class Action Settlement 

Agreement and enter the order attached as Exhibit 1.

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Respectfully submitted,

Dated: April 30, 2013

s/Douglas M. Werman s/Kyle A. Petersen

Douglas M. Werman (dwerman@flsalaw.com) Noah A. Finkel (nfinkel@seyfarth.com) 

Maureen A. Salas(msalas@flsalaw.com) Kyle A. Petersen (kpetersen@seyfarth.com)

David E. Stevens (dstevens@flsalaw.com) Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Werman Law Office, P.C. 131 South Dearborn Street, Suite 2400

77 W. Washington Street, Suite 1402 Chicago, IL 60603

312-419-1008 312-460-5000

Attorneys for Plaintiff Attorneys for Defendant

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