Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement Case No
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Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 163 Filed 07/02/21 Page 1 of 16 Page ID #:20213 1 Julian Burns King (Bar No. 298617) [email protected] 2 Elliot J. Siegel (Bar No. 286798) 3 [email protected] KING & SIEGEL LLP 4 724 S. Spring Street, Ste. 201 5 Los Angeles, California 90014 Telephone: (213) 465-4802 6 Facsimile: (213) 465-4803 7 8 Daniel Hutchinson (Bar No. 239458) [email protected] 9 Lin Y. Chan (Bar No. 255027) 10 [email protected] LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & 11 BERNSTEIN, LLP 12 275 Battery Street, 29th Floor San Francisco, California 94111 13 Telephone: (415) 956-1000 Facsimile: (415) 956-1008 14 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class 15 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 Marcie Le and Karen Dao, individu- Case No. 8:18-cv-01548-DOC (ADSx) ally and on behalf of all others similarly 19 Hon. David O. Carter situated, 20 Special Master Hon. Jay C. Gandhi (Ret.) Plaintiffs, 21 v. PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF 22 Walgreen Co., an Illinois corporation; MOTION AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR 23 Walgreen Pharmacy Services Mid- west, LLC, an Illinois limited liability FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS 24 company; and Walgreens Boots Alli- ACTION SETTLEMENT 25 ance, a Delaware corporation, [Declarations of Elliot J. Siegel, Daniel Defendants. M. Hutchinson, and Bryan Valdez; 26 [Proposed] Order filed concurrently] 27 Hearing Date: August 2, 2021 Hearing Time: 8:30 a.m. 28 PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 163 Filed 07/02/21 Page 2 of 16 Page ID #:20214 1 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 2 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on August 2, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. in the 3 United States District Court for the Central District of California, 411 West Fourth 4 Street, Courtroom 9 D, Santa Ana, CA 92701-4516, Plaintiffs Marcie Le and Karen 5 Dao, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, will and hereby do move 6 this Court for entry of an Order: (1) granting final approval of the February 22, 2021 7 Stipulation of Class Action Settlement and Release of Claims (the “Settlement” or 8 “Agreement”) and entering judgment pursuant to the terms of the Settlement; (2) fully 9 and finally approving and directing distribution of the Net Settlement Amount pursuant 10 to the terms of the Settlement; (3) fully and finally approving the award of attorneys’ 11 fees in the amount of $2,266,666.67; (4) fully and finally approving the reimbursement 12 of actual litigation costs in the amount of $254,810.92; (5) fully and finally approving 13 Service Awards totaling $20,000 to named Plaintiffs and Class Representatives Marcie 14 Le and Karen Dao; (6) fully and finally approving Settlement Administration Costs in 15 the amount of $30,000. 16 This motion is based upon this Notice of Motion and Motion; the Memorandum 17 of Points and Authorities in Support thereof; the Declarations of Elliot J. Siegel, Daniel 18 Hutchinson, Marcie Le, Karen Dao, and Bryan Valdez in support thereof; the Agree- 19 ment; the other records, pleadings, and papers filed in this action; and upon such other 20 documentary and verbal evidence or argument as may be presented to the Court during 21 the Final Approval Hearing. 22 Dated: July 2, 2021 Respectfully Submitted, 23 KING & SIEGEL LLP 24 25 By:___________________ 26 Julian Burns King Elliot J. Siegel 27 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class 28 PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 163 Filed 07/02/21 Page 3 of 16 Page ID #:20215 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 3 II. THE PARTIES HAVE GIVEN THE BEST PRACTICABLE NOTICE OF 4 THE SETTLEMENT ........................................................................................... 2 5 6 III. THE COURT SHOULD GRANT FINAL APPROVAL OF THE 7 SETTLEMENT .................................................................................................... 4 LEGAL STANDARD ............................................................................................ 4 8 STRENGTHS OF THE CASE AND RISKS OF CONTINUED LITIGATION .................... 5 9 AMOUNT OFFERED IN SETTLEMENT .................................................................. 7 10 EXTENT OF DISCOVERY COMPLETED AND STAGE OF PROCEEDINGS ................. 7 11 COUNSEL BELIEVES THE SETTLEMENT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST 12 OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS .............................................................................. 9 13 THERE ARE NO OBJECTORS AND FEW OPT-OUTS ............................................. 9 14 IV. THE REQUESTED FEES, EXPENSES, AND SERVICE AWARDS 15 ARE REASONABLE ......................................................................................... 10 16 V. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 10 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 i PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 163 Filed 07/02/21 Page 4 of 16 Page ID #:20216 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 1 CASES 2 Barnes v. Equinox Grp., Inc., 3 No. C 10-3586 LB, 2013 WL 3988804 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 2, 2013) ..................... 4 4 Bolton v. U.S. Nursing Corp., No. C 12-4466 LB, 2013 WL 5700403 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2013) .................... 8 5 Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156 (1974) ........................................................................................... 2 6 Churchill Village v. Gen. Elec., 7 361 F.3d 566 (9th Cir. 2004) .............................................................................. 4 City of Detroit v. Grinnell Corp., 8 495 F.2d 448 (2nd Cir. 1974) ............................................................................. 6 9 Class Plaintiffs v. City of Seattle, 955 F.2d 1268 (9th Cir. 1992) ............................................................................ 8 10 Ellis v. Naval Air Rework Facility, 87 F.R.D. 15 (N.D. Cal. 1980), aff’d, 661 F.2d 939 (9th Cir. 1981) ................. 7 11 Hanlon v. Chrysler Corp., 12 150 F.3d 1011 (9th Cir. 1998) ........................................................................ 4, 8 In re Cylink Sec. Litig., 13 274 F. Supp. 2d 1109 (N.D. Cal. 2003) .............................................................. 6 14 In re Mego Fin. Corp. Sec. Litig., 213 F.3d 454 (9th Cir. 2000) .............................................................................. 3 15 In re Syncor ERISA Litig., 516 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2008) ............................................................................ 4 16 Isby v. Bayh, 17 75 F.3d 1191 (7th Cir. 1996) .............................................................................. 7 Linney v. Cellular Alaska P’ship, 18 151 F.3d 1234 (9th Cir. 1998) ............................................................................ 5 19 Ma v. Covidien Holding, Inc., No. 12-02161, 2014 WL 360196 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2014) .............................. 5 20 Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950) ........................................................................................... 2 21 Nat’l Rural Telecomms. Coop. v. DirecTV, Inc., 22 221 F.R.D. 523 (C.D. Cal. 2004)................................................................ 3, 4, 5 Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 23 472 U.S. 797 (1985) ........................................................................................... 2 24 Rodriguez v. West Publ’g Corp., 563 F.3d 948 (9th Cir. 2009) .............................................................................. 4 25 Torrisi v. Tucson Elec. Power Co., 8 F.3d 1370 (9th Cir. 1993) ................................................................................ 3 26 Wren v. RGIS Inventory Specialists, 27 No. C-06-05778 JCS, 2011 WL 1230826 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 1, 2011) .................. 4 28 ii PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 163 Filed 07/02/21 Page 5 of 16 Page ID #:20217 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 1 (continued) 2 RULES 3 Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 23(c)(2)(B) ................................................................................. 1 Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 23(e)(1) ...................................................................................... 3 4 Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 23(e)(2) ...................................................................................... 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 iii PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT CASE NO. 8:18-CV-01548 Case 8:18-cv-01548-DOC-ADS Document 163 Filed 07/02/21 Page 6 of 16 Page ID #:20218 1 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 2 I. INTRODUCTION 3 This motion seeks final approval of a wage-and-hour class action settlement be- 4 tween Plaintiffs Marcie Le and Karen Dao and Defendants Walgreen Co., Walgreen 5 Pharmacy Services Midwest, LLC, and Walgreens Boots Alliance (“Walgreens”) (col- 6 lectively, the “Parties”). See Dkt. No. 155-3 (“Settlement Agreement”). 7 Pursuant to the Court’s April 1, 2021 Order Directing Notice (Dkt. No. 159), 8 notice was mailed to all Class Members1 on May 20, 2021. See July 2, 2021 Declara- 9 tion of Elliot J. Siegel (“Siegel Decl.”) ¶ 31; June 28, 2021 Declaration of Bryan Val- 10 dez (“Valdez Decl.”) ¶ 6. The reaction of Class Members to the Settlement has been 11 overwhelmingly