Carlin et al v. DairyAmerica, Inc. et al

Filing 564

ORDER GRANTING unopposed motion to extend deadlines for class notice and final approval of settlement, 563 . The date of the hearing to determine the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of the proposed settlement with DairyAmeric a and California Dairies and whether to approve Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees, reimbursement of expenses and service awards for Class Representatives, is rescheduled from March 4, 2019, at 1:30 p.m., to March 18, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. Order signed by District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 11/2/2018. (Timken, A)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11
12

GERALD CARLIN, JOHN RAHM, PAUL
ROZWADOWSKI and DIANA WOLFE,
individually and on behalf of themselves
and all other similarly situated,

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

CASE NO. 1:09-CV-0430 AWI-EPG
ORDER GRANTING UNOPPOSED
MOTION TO EXTEND DEADLINES
FOR CLASS NOTICE AND FINAL
APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT

Plaintiffs,
v.

(Doc. No. 563)
DAIRYAMERICA, INC., and
CALIFORNIA DAIRIES, INC.
Defendants
The parties in this case have entered into a settlement agreement. Plaintiffs proposed a
comprehensive notice program that provides: (1) direct mailed notice of the settlement to Settlement
Class Members and (2) publication notice in two widely-circulated magazines directed to farmers
and on a website. Doc. No. 555 at 7, 19-20. To provide direct mailed notice, Plaintiffs proposed
collaborating with each of the ten Federal Milk Marketing Orders (“FMMOs”) to obtain the contact
and production information for tens of thousands of Settlement Class Members. Id. Once that data
was obtained, Plaintiffs proposed that the claims administrator, Rust Consulting, would process the
data and distribute individualized notices of the settlement directly to Settlement Class Members. Id.

The proposed deadline for distributing direct-mailed notice was 60 days from the date of
preliminary approval. The Court preliminarily approved this proposed notice plan on September

28
1

1 14, 2018, thus setting the deadline for mailing at November 13, 2018. Doc. No. 559 at 17.
2

Plaintiffs have now petitioned for an extension of deadlines, which Defendants have not

3 opposed. Doc. No. 563. Plaintiffs state:
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

[T]he process undertaken by FMMOs to collect the requisite data regarding
Settlement Class Members has been more time-consuming than the agencies
anticipated. The FMMOs had expected to complete the production of data by
October 19, 2018, but instead the production was not completed until October 30,
2018. For that reason, Rust Consulting is now unable to process the data and
prepare the mailings by the November 13, 2018 deadline. Due to the
unanticipated delay in FMMOs collecting and providing the data, Plaintiffs
respectfully request that the Court extend—by two weeks—the deadlines
associated with distributing notice and moving for final approval of the
settlement. This extension would provide Rust Consulting sufficient time to
process the data and prepare the individual mailings.

11 Id. at 2. Plaintiffs thus proposed the following modified schedule, which the Court finds
12 acceptable:
13

21

Deadline for all notices to be mailed,
published, and posted on the internet
Motion for attorneys’ fees, costs, and
service awards due by
Class Members’ objections, exclusions,
and submission of all claim forms due by
Administrator to file affidavit certifying
compliance with notice requirements by
Parties to file motion for final approval,
and to respond to any objections from
class members, by
Final approval hearing
(“Fairness Hearing”)

22

Effective Date

14
15
16
17
18
19
20

23
24

Defendants to wire second half of the
Total Settlement Amount by

November 13, 2018

November 27, 2018

December 14, 2018

December 28, 2018

January 14, 2019

January 28, 2019

February 4, 2019

February 19, 2019

February 4, 2019

February 19, 2019

March 4, 2019,
1:30 p.m.
Reserved for decision
in Order
regarding Final
Approval Hearing
As per § 7.1 of the
Settlement Agreement

March 18, 2019,
1:30 p.m.
Same

Same

25
26
27
28

ORDER
Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. The deadline for mailing the Long Notice and the Claim Form to Settlement Class
2

1
2
3
4

Members is extended from November 13, 2018 to November 27, 2018;
2. The deadline for publishing Summary Notice, on one occasion in Progressive Dairymen
and American Dairymen, is extended from November 13, 2018 to November 27, 2018;
3. The deadline for Class Counsel to file with the Court, and serve upon counsel for

5

DairyAmerica and California Dairies, their motion for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement of

6

expenses and service awards for Class Representatives is extended from December 14,

7

2018 to December 28, 2018;

8

4. The deadline for Settlement Class Members to sign and mail completed Claim Forms to

9

the Claims Administrator is extended by two weeks, such that Claim Forms must be

10
11

postmarked no later than January 28, 2019;
5. The deadline for Settlement Class Members to mail requests for exclusion to the Claims

12

Administrator is extended by two weeks, such that requests for exclusion must be

13

postmarked no later than January 28, 2019;

14

6. The deadline for Settlement Class Members to submit written objections to the

15

Settlement Agreement, and/or Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement

16

of expenses and service awards for Class Representatives is extended by two weeks, such

17

that objections must be received by the Court, Class Counsel, and Counsel for

18

DairyAmerica and California Dairies no later than January 28, 2019;

19

7. The deadline for Class Counsel to file their motion for final approval of the Settlement

20

Agreement with the Court, and serve it upon counsel for DairyAmerica and California

21

Dairies, is extended from February 4, 2019 to February 19, 2019;

22

8. The deadline for Class Counsel to file with the Court, and serve upon counsel for

23

DairyAmerica and California Dairies, affidavits or declarations of the person under

24

whose general direction the mailing of the Long Notice and the publication of Summary

25

Notice were made, is extended from February 4, 2019 to February 19, 2019;

26

9. The deadline for Class Counsel to file with the Court, and serve on the parties, responses

27

to any timely objection filed by any member of the Settlement Class, is extended from

28

February 4, 2019 to February 19, 2019;
3

1

10. The date of the hearing to determine the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of the

2

proposed settlement with DairyAmerica and California Dairies and whether to approve

3

Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement of expenses and service

4

awards for Class Representatives, is rescheduled from March 4, 2019, at 1:30 p.m., to

5

March 18, 2019, at 1:30 p.m.

6
7

IT IS SO ORDERED.

8 Dated: November 2, 2018

SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
4