Amador, et al. v. City of Ceres
Filing
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ORDER Requiring Supplemental Submission in Support of 26 Stipulation and Proposed Order for Approval of Settlement Agreement and Dismissal With Prejudice, signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 3/22/2018. (The supplemental filings shall be submitted within twenty-one days of the service of this order.) (Gaumnitz, R)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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JULIO AMADOR, et al.,
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Plaintiffs,
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No. 1:17-cv-00552-DAD-MJS
v.
CITY OF CERES,
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Defendants.
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ORDER REQUIRING SUPPLEMENTAL
SUBMISSION IN SUPPORT OF
STIPULATION AND PROPOSED ORDER
FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT AND DISMISSAL WITH
PREJUDICE
(Doc. No. 26)
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Thirty-four plaintiffs bring this action against defendant City of Ceres (“City”) with
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allegations that they were denied proper compensation in violation of the Fair Labor standards
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Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. (Doc. No. 1.) Now before the court is the parties’ joint
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stipulation filed on March 16, 2018 for approval of the settlement agreement and dismissal of the
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action with prejudice. (Doc. No. 26.) After considering the papers filed in connection with the
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parties’ stipulation, the court will defer consideration of thereof and direct the parties to
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supplement it with a declaration or declarations addressing those factors the court must make
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findings upon in determining whether the proposed FLSA settlement is fair, adequate, and
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reasonable.
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BACKGROUND
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In this action, all thirty-four plaintiffs appear individually and have not moved for
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certification of a class or collective action. According to the complaint, each of the plaintiffs (1)
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is or was employed by the City within the last three years; and (2) has received certain
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compensation from the City, including cash in lieu of City-sponsored medical benefits and lump
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sum payment for unused holidays. (Doc. No. 1 ¶ 2.) Plaintiffs allege that for the three years prior
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to commencement of this action, the City failed to properly calculate payment of overtime
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compensation, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. (“FLSA”).
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Specifically, plaintiffs advance three independent bases for liability under a single FLSA claim
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for failure to properly compensate employees for overtime work: (1) the City’s alleged failure to
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include cash-in-lieu payments for medical benefits in its calculation of the regular rate of pay for
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purposes of overtime compensation, in contravention of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Flores v.
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City of San Gabriel, 824 F.3d 890, 895 (9th Cir. 2016) (holding that cash payments in lieu of
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health benefits “must be included in the regular rate of pay and thus in the calculation of the
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overtime rate” under the FLSA); (2) the City’s alleged failure to include payments for certain
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holiday benefits in its calculation of the regular rate of pay, as purportedly required by a district
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court decision in Hart v. City of Alameda, No. C-07-5845MMC, 2009 WL 1705612 (N.D. Cal.
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June 17, 2009); and (3) the City’s calculation of a regular rate of pay based on a practice of
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dividing total pay by the number of hours actually worked, rather than the scheduled number of
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hours worked. (See id. ¶¶ 22–27.)
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LEGAL STANDARD
Settlement of claims under the FLSA requires court approval. See Jones v. Agilysys, Inc.,
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No. C 12–03516 SBA, 2014 WL 108420, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 10, 2014). “The FLSA establishes
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federal minimum-wage, maximum-hour, and overtime guarantees that cannot be modified by
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contract.” Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, 569 U.S. 66, 69 (2013). Because an employee
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cannot waive claims under the FLSA, they may not be settled without supervision of either the
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Secretary of Labor or a district court. See Barrentine v. Ark.–Best Freight Sys., Inc., 450 U.S.
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728, 740 (1981); Yue Zhou v. Wang’s Restaurant, No. 05–cv–0279 PVT, 2007 WL 2298046, at
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*1, n.1 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 8, 2007).
The Ninth Circuit has not established criteria for district courts to consider in determining
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whether a FLSA settlement should be approved. Dunn v. Teachers Ins. & Annuity Ass’n of Am.,
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No. 13-CV-05456-HSG, 2016 WL 153266, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 13, 2016). However, in this
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circuit, district courts have normally applied a widely-used standard adopted by the Eleventh
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Circuit, looking to whether the settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide
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dispute. Id.; see also Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. United States, 679 F.2d 1350, 1352–53 (11th
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Cir. 1982); Selk v. Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District, 159 F. Supp. 3d 1164, 1172 (S.D. Cal.
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2016); Yue Zhou, 2007 WL 2298046, at *1. “A bona fide dispute exists when there are legitimate
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questions about the existence and extent of Defendant’s FLSA liability.” Selk, 159 F. Supp. 3d at
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1172 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). A court will not approve a settlement of an
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action in which there is certainty that the FLSA entitles plaintiffs to the compensation they seek,
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because it would shield employers from the full cost of complying with the statute. Id.
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Once it is established that there is a bona fide dispute, courts often apply the Rule 23
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factors for assessing proposed class action settlements when evaluating the fairness of an FLSA
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settlement, while recognizing that some of those factors do not apply because of the inherent
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differences between class actions and FLSA actions. Khanna v. Inter-Con Sec. Sys., Inc., No.
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CIV S-09-2214 KJM, 2013 WL 1193485, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2013). To determine whether
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the proposed FLSA settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable, courts in this circuit have
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balanced factors such as:
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the strength of the plaintiffs’ case; the risk, expense, complexity,
and likely duration of further litigation; the risk of maintaining class
action status throughout the trial; the amount offered in settlement;
the extent of discovery completed and the stage of the proceedings;
the experience and views of counsel; the presence of a
governmental participant; and the reaction of the class members to
the proposed settlement.
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Khanna v. Intercon Sec. Sys., Inc., No. 2:09-CV-2214 KJM EFB, 2014 WL 1379861, at *6 (E.D.
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Cal. Apr. 8, 2014), order corrected, No. 2:09-CV-2214 KJM EFB, 2015 WL 925707 (E.D. Cal.
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Mar. 3, 2015); see also Almodova v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, Civil No. 07–00378 DAE–LEK,
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2010 WL 1372298, at *4 (D. Haw. Mar.31, 2010), recommendations adopted by 2010 WL
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1644971 (D. Haw. Apr.20, 2010) (adopting class action settlement factors in evaluating a FLSA
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collective action settlement even though some of those factors will not apply). District courts in
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this circuit have also taken note of the “unique importance of the substantive labor rights
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involved” in settling FLSA actions and adopted a “totality of circumstances approach that
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emphasizes the context of the case.” Selk, 159 F. Supp. 3d at 1173. With this approach, a
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“district court must ultimately be satisfied that the settlement’s overall effect is to vindicate,
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rather than frustrate, the purposes of the FLSA.” Id. Settlements that reflect a fair and reasonable
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compromise of issues that are actually in dispute may be approved to promote the efficiency of
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encouraging settlement of litigation. McKeen-Chaplin v. Franklin Am. Mortg. Co., No. C 10-
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5243 SBA, 2012 WL 6629608, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 19, 2012).
ANALYSIS
Here, the parties have submitted a stipulation and proposed order for court approval of a
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settlement along with the request to dismiss the action with prejudice. (Doc. No. 53.) The parties
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state that “when employees bring a private action for compensation under the FLSA, such action
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may be voluntarily dismissed without a Court Order when, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil
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Procedure (FRCP) Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), Plaintiffs present the district court a proposed settlement
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and a joint stipulation by the parties requesting dismissal of the action.” (Doc. No. 26 at 3–4.)
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However, a stipulation of dismissal under Rule 41 is still “[s]ubject to . . . any applicable federal
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statute” and the parties’ stipulation provides no factual representations or analysis as to why this
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settlement agreement is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute, as required under
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the FLSA. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41. Further, the requirements for approving a settlement are not less
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rigorous because plaintiffs in this action appear individually rather than as part of a certified
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collective action. See also Dunn v. Teachers Ins. & Annuity Ass’n of Am., No. 13-CV-05456-
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HSG, 2016 WL 153266, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 13, 2016) (evaluating whether proposed settlements
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were a fair and reasonable resolution of plaintiffs’ individual FLSA claims); Gonzalez v.
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Fallanghina, LLC, No. 16-CV-01832-MEJ, 2017 WL 1374582, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 17, 2017)
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(same). As a result, the court is not yet able to make the findings that are required in order to
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approve this proposed settlement agreement.
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Accordingly, the parties are directed to supplement their stipulation for approval and
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dismissal by way of declaration(s), briefing or both, addressing why the proposed settlement is a
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fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute, including with respect to the attorneys’ fees
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to be awarded. The supplemental filings shall be submitted within twenty-one days of the service
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of this order. Upon receipt of the supplemental filings the court will issue an order addressing the
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proposed settlement and dismissal.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:
March 22, 2018
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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