Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29 Filed 11/01/16 Page 1 of 4 Page ID #:317 1 ERAGOS ERAGOS G & G 2 A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION LAWYERS HISTORIC ENGINE CO. NO. 28 3 644 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, California 90017-3411 4 Telephone (213) 625-3900 Facsimile (213) 232-3255 5 [email protected] MARK J. GERAGOS SBN 108325 6 BEN J. MEISELAS SBN 277412 7 LEVI & KORSINSKY LLP LORI G. FELDMAN (pro hac vice) 8 [email protected] 30 Broad Street, 24th Floor 9 New York, NY 10004 10 Telephone: (212) 363-7500 Facsimile: (212) 363-7171 11 Counsel for Plaintiffs 12 and the [Proposed] Class 13 [Additional Counsel Appear on Signature Page] 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 16 WESTERN DIVISION 17 18 ) RACHAEL CRONIN, on Behalf of ) Lead Case No. 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM 19 Herself and All Others Similarly ) Situated, ) 20 ) PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF MOTION Plaintiff, ) AND MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY 21 APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CLASS v. ) ACTION SETTLEMENT 22 ) EOS PRODUCTS, LLC, ) 23 ) Date: December 19, 2016 Defendant. ) Time: 8:30 a.m. 24 ) Room: 750 ) Judge: Hon. John A. Kronstadt 25 ) ) 26 ) ) 27 ) ) 28 Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29 Filed 11/01/16 Page 2 of 4 Page ID #:318 1 TO THE COURT, ALL PARTIES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE 2 ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 3 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on December 19, 2016, at 8:30 a.m., or as 4 soon thereafter as this matter may be heard before the Honorable John Kronstadt in 5 Courtroom 750 at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, 255 E. Temple Street, 6 Los Angeles, California 90012, plaintiffs Rachael Cronin, Ashundrae Everett, 7 Samantha Tipirneni, Nicole Emily Caggiano, Carolyn Bevins, Melissa Menz, Maria 8 Del Carmen Ballenilla-Blondett, Samantha Santiago, Amanda Jones, Marylou 9 Gilsleider, Yokie Renee Ivy and Larissa Gannuccelli (“Plaintiffs”), will respectfully 10 move the Court to grant preliminary approval of the proposed settlement (the 11 “Settlement”) of this class action between Plaintiffs, on their own behalf and on 12 behalf of all members of the Settlement Class, as defined below, and defendant EOS 13 Products, LLC (“EOS”). Specifically, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court: 14 (a) grant preliminary approval of the proposed Settlement; (b) grant conditional 15 certification of the Settlement Class for settlement purposes only; (c) approve the 16 form of the proposed settlement notices and forms and authorize the service of same 17 to the Settlement Class; (d) enter the Preliminary Approval Order; and (e) schedule 18 a hearing on the final approval of the Settlement. 19 The Settlement Class is defined as: all persons residing in the United States 20 who purchased EOS lip balm after January 1, 2009 and on or before the time of 21 preliminary approval of the settlement by the Court, excluding EOS, EOS’s officers, 22 directors, employees, and legal representatives, EOS’s subsidiaries, those who 23 purchased the products for purpose of resale, (Ret.) Judge Peter D. Lichtman, the 24 immediate family of Judge Lichtman, the Judges to whom these cases are assigned, 25 the immediate family of the Judges to whom these cases are assigned, and any 26 individuals who timely opt-out of the settlement. 27 Plaintiffs make this motion on the grounds that the proposed Settlement is 28 - 2 - Plaintiffs’ Notice of Motion and Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Action Settlement Lead Case No. 2:16-cv-235-JAK-JEM Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29 Filed 11/01/16 Page 3 of 4 Page ID #:319 1 within the range of possible final approval, and thus notice should be provided to the 2 conditionally certified Settlement Class Members. 3 This Motion is made following the conference of counsel pursuant to Local 4 Rule 7-3. Defendant EOS does not oppose this Motion. 5 This Motion is based upon this Notice of Motion and Motion for Preliminary 6 Approval of Settlement, Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in 7 Support Thereof, the Declarations of Ben J. Meiselas and Lori G. Feldman, the 8 Settlement Agreement (“Agreement”), any reply in further support, the declarations 9 of counsel involved in this matter, oral argument of counsel, the complete Court files 10 and record in the above-captioned matter, and such additional matters as the Court 11 may consider. A proposed Preliminary Approval Order is submitted herewith and 12 copies of the proposed notices and forms to be sent to the Settlement Class are 13 attached to the Agreement as Exhibits 1-5. 14 Respectfully submitted, 15 Dated: November 1, 2016 BISNAR | CHASE LLP 16 By: /s/ Jerusalem F. Beligan 17 BRIAN D. CHASE (164109) [email protected] 18 JERUSALEM F. BELIGAN (211258) [email protected] 19 1301 Dove Street, Suite 120 Newport Beach, CA 92660 20 Telephone: 949/752-2999 Facsimile: 949/752-2777 21 GERAGOS & GERAGOS APC 22 MARK J. GERAGOS (SBN 108325) BEN J. MEISELAS (SBN 277412) 23 Historic Engine Co. No. 28 644 South Figueroa Street 24 Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone: 213/625-3900 25 Facsimile: 213/232-3255 [email protected] 26 27 28 - 3 - Plaintiffs’ Notice of Motion and Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Action Settlement Lead Case No. 2:16-cv-235-JAK-JEM Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29 Filed 11/01/16 Page 4 of 4 Page ID #:320 LEVI & KORSINSKY LLP 1 LORI G. FELDMAN (pro hac vice) [email protected] 2 30 Broad Street, 24th Floor New York, NY 10004 3 Telephone: 212/363-7500 Facsimile: 212/363-7171 4 WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER 5 FREEMAN & HERZ LLP JANINE L. POLLACK (pro hac vice) 6 [email protected] 270 Madison Avenue 7 New York, New York 10016 Telephone: 212/545-4600 8 Facsimile: 212/545-4653 9 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 - 4 - Plaintiffs’ Notice of Motion and Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Action Settlement Lead Case No. 2:16-cv-235-JAK-JEM Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29-1 Filed 11/01/16 Page 1 of 37 Page ID #:321 1 ERAGOS ERAGOS G & G 2 A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION LAWYERS HISTORIC ENGINE CO. NO. 28 3 644 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, California 90017-3411 4 Telephone (213) 625-3900 Facsimile (213) 232-3255 5 [email protected] MARK J. GERAGOS SBN 108325 6 BEN J. MEISELAS SBN 277412 7 LEVI & KORSINSKY LLP LORI G. FELDMAN (pro hac vice) 8 [email protected] 30 Broad Street, 24th Floor 9 New York, NY 10004 10 Telephone: (212) 363-7500 Facsimile: (212) 363-7171 11 Counsel for Plaintiffs 12 and the [Proposed] Class 13 [Additional Counsel Appear on Signature Page] 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 16 WESTERN DIVISION 17 18 ) RACHAEL CRONIN, on Behalf of ) Lead Case No. 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM 19 Herself and All Others Similarly ) Situated, ) 20 ) PLAINTIFFS’ MEMORANDUM OF Plaintiff, ) POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN 21 SUPPORT OF THEIR MOTION FOR v. ) PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF 22 ) PROPOSED CLASS ACTION EOS PRODUCTS, LLC, ) SETTLEMENT 23 ) Defendant. ) 24 ) Date: December 19, 2016 ) Time: 8:30 a.m. 25 ) Room: 750 ) Judge: Hon. John A. Kronstadt 26 ) ) 27 28 Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29-1 Filed 11/01/16 Page 2 of 37 Page ID #:322 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 2 3 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 4 II. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE LITIGATION ...................... 3 5 III. MEDIATION AND THE SUBSEQUENT SETTLEMENT EFFORTS........ 7 6 IV. THE NOTICE PLAN ...................................................................................... 8 7 V. THE TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT ....................................................... 12 8 9 VI. REASONS FOR THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT ................................... 14 10 VII. PRELIMINARY APPROVAL SHOULD BE GRANTED .......................... 14 11 A. The Settlement is Non-Collusive and the Product of Informed 12 Negotiations by Counsel with Considerable Experience ......................... 17 13 B. The Settlement has no Obvious Deficiencies .......................................... 18 14 C. The Settlement Does Not Improperly Grant Preferential Treatment to 15 Plaintiffs or any Segment of the Settlement Class ................................... 19 16 D. The Settlement Terms Easily Fall Within the Range of Possible 17 Approval ................................................................................................... 20 18 VIII. THE SETTLEMENT CLASS SHOULD BE CERTIFIED .......................... 23 19 A. Requirements Under Rule 23(a) .............................................................. 24 20 1. Numerosity .......................................................................................... 24 21 2. Commonality ....................................................................................... 24 22 3. Typicality ............................................................................................ 25 23 24 4. Adequacy of Representation ............................................................... 26 25 B. Requirements Under Rule 23(b) .............................................................. 27 26 1. Predominance ...................................................................................... 28 27 28 - ii - Pls’ Mem. of Points & Authorities in Support of Mot. for Prelim. Approval of Class Action Settlement Lead Case No. 2:16-cv-235-JAK-JEM N Case 2:16-cv-00235-JAK-JEM Document 29-1 Filed 11/01/16 Page 3 of 37 Page ID #:323 1 2. Superiority ........................................................................................... 28 2 IX. PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF FORM AND METHOD OF CLASS 3 NOTICE .......................................................................................................