IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

DAWN MEEGAN, individually and on behalf 

of all others similarly situated, 

Plaintiff, 

v.

NFI INDUSTRIES, INC., 

Defendant.

)

)

)

)

) Case No. 1:20-cv-00465

)

) Hon. Thomas M. Durkin

)

)

)

ORDER CERTIFYING CLASS FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES ONLY 

AND GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

On August 12, 2022, the Court held a status hearing regarding Plaintiff’s Motion for 

Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement. The Court has considered the Settlement 

Agreement and its exhibits, including the Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit 

(“Class Notice”), along with the submissions of counsel, and hereby finds and orders as follows:

1. Unless otherwise defined herein, all capitalized terms used in this Order (the 

“Preliminary Approval Order”) will have the same meaning as defined in the Settlement 

Agreement.

2. The Court finds on a preliminary basis that the Settlement memorialized in the 

Settlement Agreement, and filed with the Court, falls within the range of reasonableness and, 

therefore, meets the requirements for preliminary approval.

3. This Court grants preliminary approval of the Parties’ Class Action Settlement.

4. This Court finds that the proposed Settlement Class is proper and should be 

certified. For purposes of the proposed Settlement, the Settlement Class is certified pursuant to 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 as follows:

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All individuals currently or formerly working at NFI, or any of its subsidiaries or 

affiliates, in the State of Illinois who had their fingerprint data collected, captured, 

received, obtained, maintained, stored, or disclosed between December 16, 2014, 

and November 30, 2018 (“Settlement Class”). 

5. This Court specifically finds for purposes of this settlement that (i) the class is so 

numerous that joinder is impracticable; (ii) common questions of fact and law exist; (iii) Plaintiff’s 

claims are typical of the class claims; and (iv) Plaintiff will be able to fairly and adequately protect 

the interests of the Settlement Class. In addition, this Court finds for purposes of this Settlement 

that common questions of fact and law predominate over questions affecting individual Class 

Members, and the class action is superior to other available methods of adjudication. Certification 

of the Settlement Class for settlement purposes is the best means for protecting the interests of all 

Settlement Class Members.

6. This Court appoints the attorneys from Stephan Zouras, LLP as Class Counsel and 

Named Plaintiff Dawn Meegan as Class Representative.

7. This Court approves JND Legal Administration as Settlement Administrator to 

perform duties in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement and the plan of 

settlement administration therein.

8. The Class Notice to be provided as set forth in the Settlement Agreement is hereby 

found to be the best practicable means of providing notice under the circumstances and, when 

completed, shall constitute due and sufficient notice of the proposed Settlement and of the Final 

Approval Hearing to all persons and entities affected by and/or entitled to participate in the 

Settlement, in full compliance with the notice requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23, due process, the 

Constitution of the United States, the laws of the State of Illinois, and all other applicable laws. 

The Class Notice is accurate, objective, and informative and provides members of the Settlement 

Class with all of the information necessary to make an informed decision regarding their 

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participation in the Settlement and its fairness.

9. The Class Notice, attached to the Settlement Agreement as Exhibit A, is approved

with the following modifications: (1) the Class Notice should indicate that the Final Approval 

Hearing will be conducted via telephone; (2) the phrase “Attendance at the [final approval] hearing 

is not necessary” will be modified to state in bold text “Attendance at the telephonic [final 

approval] hearing is not necessary; (3) the phrase “a net payment of approximately $570” will 

be modified to bold text; and (4) the Class Notice will be mailed in Spanish and English. The 

Settlement Administrator is authorized to mail those documents to the Class Members as provided 

in the Settlement Agreement within 14 days of receipt of a complete Class List.

10. Any written objection to the Settlement must be submitted to the Court no later than 

45 days after the Class Notice is mailed to the Class Members.

11. Any uncashed amounts from the Settlement Fund (including checks disbursed to 

Settlement Class Members that are uncashed for any reason within 180 days of issuance of the 

check) will be transferred to NFI Cares as a cy pres solely for NFI’s Illinois workforce, as set forth 

in the Settlement Agreement.

12. This Court will consider a Fee Award to Class Counsel of $1,130,901.30 of the 

Settlement Fund, inclusive of all past and anticipated future attorneys’ fees, which represents 

33.3% of the Settlement Fund less Administration Expenses of up to $80,000.00 and costs of up 

to $15,000.00, plus reimbursement of the attorneys’ out of pocket costs and expenses not to exceed 

$15,000.00.

13. In the event that the Effective Date does not occur, the Settlement and the 

Settlement Agreement shall be deemed null and void and shall have no effect whatsoever. In such 

case, nothing in the Settlement Agreement or this Order shall be relied upon, cited as, constitute 

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evidence of, or constitute an admission that class or collective action certification is or may be 

appropriate in this action or any other matter, as set forth in the Settlement Agreement.

14. The Court will conduct a Final Approval Hearing on November 18, 2022, at 12:00 

p.m. to determine the overall fairness of the Settlement. The Final Approval Hearing may be 

continued without further notice to Class Members. The Class Representative shall file a motion 

for final approval of the Settlement, and Class Counsel shall file their unopposed motion for a Fee 

Award, Administration Expenses, and the Service Award to the Class Representative on or before 

November 11, 2022.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

 Dated: August 22, 2022

Hon. Thomas M. Durkin 

United States District Court Judge

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