Alexander et al v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. et al

Filing 193

STIPULATION AND ORDER re 192 JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES FOR THE FILING OF CLAIM FORMS, AND CHALLENGES, OBJECTIONS filed by Paul Infantino, Allan Ross, Jorge Isla, Suzanne Andrade, Dean Alexander, Ely Ines, Jarrett Henderson, Joey Rodriguez, Jesse Padilla, Bernard Mendoza. Signed by Judge Edward M. Chen on 12/4/15. (bpf, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/4/2015)

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192 Filed 12/03/15 Page 1 of 6

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BETH A. ROSS (SBN 141337)
[e-mail]
AARON KAUFMANN (SBN 148580)
[e-mail]
DAVID P. POGREL (SBN 203787)
[e-mail]
ELIZABETH R. GROPMAN (SBN 294156)
[e-mail]
LEONARD CARDER, LLP
1330 Broadway, Suite 1450
Oakland, California 94612
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

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Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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1330 BROADWAY, SUITE 1450
OAKLAND, CA 94612
TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

LEONARD CARDER, LLP
ATTORNEYS

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CAROLYN KUBOTA (SBN 113660)
[e-mail]
SCOTT VOELZ (SBN 181415)
[e-mail]
O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP
400 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, California 90071
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendant

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DEAN ALEXANDER, et. al.

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Plaintiffs,
vs.
FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM, INC.
et. al.,
Defendant.

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Case No: 3:05-cv-38 EMC
JOINT STIPULATION AND
[PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION
SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING
DEADLINES FOR THE FILING OF
CLAIM FORMS, AND
CHALLENGES, OBJECTIONS AND
EXCLUSION REQUESTS, AND
CONTINUING FINAL APPROVAL
HEARING

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JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES

Case No. 3:05-cv-38 EMC

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192 Filed 12/03/15 Page 2 of 6

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The parties to this lawsuit, by and through their respective counsel, do hereby stipulate as
follows:
1) On November 16, 2015, the court-appointed settlement administrator, Rust

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Consulting, mailed the notice of the class settlement to members of the Plaintiff class

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in accordance with the schedule set out in the preliminary approval order entered on

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October 22, 2015.

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2) Both Plaintiffs’ counsel and Rust have received numerous calls from class members in

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response to the mailing that have brought to light errors with the mailing list supplied

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to Rust and the calculations underlying the estimated settlement payments described in

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1330 BROADWAY, SUITE 1450
OAKLAND, CA 94612
TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

LEONARD CARDER, LLP
ATTORNEYS

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the settlement packet. These include:
a. The class mailing list supplied to Rust by plaintiffs’ counsel contained

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approximately 600 corrupted addresses resulting from an uploading error that

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came to light after the class notice mailed.

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b. The estimated settlement payments reflected in the claimant identification

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forms prepared for approximately 1021 of the 2016 class members were

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erroneously overstated primarily for two reasons: (1) there were duplicate

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entries in Defendant’s scanner data for several hundred class members which

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caused a doubling of their credited workweeks for portions of the class period;

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(2) the preliminary calculations assigned workweek credit to class members for

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all workweeks in which they were identified as a driver in the scanner data and

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erroneously included weeks before they became contractors or after their

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contracts terminated.

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c. The estimated settlement payments reflected in the claimant identification

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forms for 83 class members who contracted with Defendant in its Home

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Delivery service prior to January 2001 are under-stated because the scanner

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data supplied by Defendant for its Home Delivery service does not include the

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period November 17, 2000 to December 31, 2000 and an additional sum was

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not included in the preliminary calculation for this six week period.
-1JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES

Case No. 3:05-cv-38 EMC

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192 Filed 12/03/15 Page 3 of 6

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d. The effect of the recalculation will cause a redistribution of approximately $7

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million dollars of class settlement fund that will increase the estimated pro rata

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settlement shares of some class members and decrease others. Some class

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members will receive significantly less than the initial estimate while, on

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average, estimated settlement shares of the 1021 class members will be

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reduced by approximately $6800.

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3) The parties agree that in order to provide class members with the most accurate

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information possible regarding their claims and the estimated settlement payments

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they may receive, and to give them the benefit of the full sixty day period to consider

1330 BROADWAY, SUITE 1450
OAKLAND, CA 94612
TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

the terms of the settlement, file objections with the court, opt-out (if permitted) and

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LEONARD CARDER, LLP
ATTORNEYS

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file claims with the settlement administrator, the following should occur: (a) the notice

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period should be extended by approximately 4 weeks from January 16, 2016 to

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February 15, 2016 with the corrected notice mailed by the settlement administrator no

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later than December 14, 2015; (b) the final approval hearing on calendar for March

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24, 2016 should be rescheduled to a date no earlier than April 7, 2016; and (c) new

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notice should be provided to the entire class using corrected addresses where

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necessary and reflecting corrected calculations of estimated settlement payments.

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4) As of this filing, approximately 78 class members have submitted claims to the

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settlement administrator and claims will continue to be submitted prior to any

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remailing. The parties agree that all claims submitted to the settlement administrator

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prior to the remailing should be accepted by the settlement administrator and the Court

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with the understanding that the revised data will determine the estimated settlement

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payments for each class member.

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5) The parties agree that the corrected notice should be accompanied by a cover letter

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explaining the reason for the second notice, highlighting the material differences

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between the two notices – i.e. the extension of the claim filing and objection deadline

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to February 15, 2016 and the new hearing date of no earlier than April 7, 2016, and

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-2JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES

Case No. 3:05-cv-38 EMC

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192 Filed 12/03/15 Page 4 of 6

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explaining that all claims previously filed by class members will be honored. A copy

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of this proposed communication is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

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6) All costs associated with the corrected notice procedure will be borne by Plaintiffs’

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counsel. Plaintiffs’ counsel is confident that the issues discussed above have been

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appropriately addressed and that the recalculation of the estimated settlement shares

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represents the result of the best information possible.

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Respectfully submitted,

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LEONARD CARDER, LLP

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1330 BROADWAY, SUITE 1450
OAKLAND, CA 94612
TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

LEONARD CARDER, LLP
ATTORNEYS

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Dated: December 3, 2015

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By:

/s/ Beth A. Ross
Beth A. Ross
Attorneys for Plaintiffs and Plaintiff Class

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O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP

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Dated: December 3, 2015

By: /s/ Scott Voelz
Carolyn Kubota
Scott Voelz
Attorneys for Defendant
FedEx Ground Package System, Inc.

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-3JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES

Case No. 3:05-cv-38 EMC

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192 Filed 12/03/15 Page 5 of 6

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ATTESTATION OF FILING
Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 5-1(i)(3), I, Beth A. Ross, hereby attest that concurrence in
the filing of this Stipulation has been obtained from each of the other signatories listed above.

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Dated: December 3, 2015

LEONARD CARDER, LLP

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By:

/s/ Beth A. Ross
Beth A. Ross
Attorneys for Plaintiffs and Plaintiff Class

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1330 BROADWAY, SUITE 1450
OAKLAND, CA 94612
TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

LEONARD CARDER, LLP
ATTORNEYS

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-4JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES

Case No. 3:05-cv-38 EMC

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192 Filed 12/03/15 Page 6 of 6

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ORDER

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Pursuant to stipulation of the parties and good cause appearing, the Court hereby
ORDERS as follows:

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1.

The January 16, 2016 deadline for class members to file claims with the

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Settlement Administrator, to file objections to the settlement, and, where applicable, to opt-out of

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the general class and/or the meal and rest period settlement subclass shall be extended to

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February 15, 2016.

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2.

The final approval hearing scheduled for March 24, 2016 shall be continued to

April 7, 2016.

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3.

The Settlement Administrator is directed to send corrected notice packets to all

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February 15, 2016 deadline for the filing of claims, objections, and opt-outs, and the April 7,

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2016 final approval hearing accompanied by a cover letter in the form attached as Exhibit A

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hereto.

R NIA

dwa
Judge E

ER

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hen

rd M. C

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IT IS S

FO

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Hon. Edward M. Chen
D
U.S. District RDERE
O O Judge

LI

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DATED: December ___, 2015

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S DISTRICT
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TA
_______________________________

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UNIT
ED

1330 BROADWAY, SUITE 1450
OAKLAND, CA 94612
TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

members of the Alexander class no later than December 14, 2015 reflecting the extended

RT
U
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LEONARD CARDER, LLP
ATTORNEYS

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F
D IS T IC T O
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-5JOINT STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER DIRECTING
RE-NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND RE-SETTING DEADLINES

Case No. 3:05-cv-38 EMC

Case 3:05-cv-00038-EMC Document 192-1 Filed 12/03/15 Page 1 of 1

Exhibit A
Enclosed is a corrected Notice Packet relating to the class action settlement in Alexander v
FedEx Ground Packages System, Inc. US District Court Northern District of California Case No.
05-cv-0038 EMC. You are receiving this corrected Notice Packet for two reasons: (1) the
November 16, 2015 mailing was inadvertently sent to a large number of incorrect addresses; and (2)
the preliminary calculations on which the estimated settlement payments were based have been
adjusted for accuracy.
Whether this is the first notice you have received of the class action settlement, or whether
you also received the notice packet mailed on November 16, 2015, please review the contents of
the enclosed notice and claimant identification form and the instructions for filing claims,
objections, requests for exclusion, and challenges to the preliminary payment calculations. All
deadlines for these filings have been extended by the Court from January 15, 2016 to
February 15, 2016 (see below). Additionally, the amount of your estimated pro rata settlement
payment has changed. It will be higher or lower than the previous estimate.
The reason for the extension is to provide all potential class members with a full sixty-day
period to consider the terms of the settlement and decide how they wish to proceed. The new
deadlines are:
1) February 15, 2016:
Deadline for filing Claimant Identification forms with
Rust Consulting by U.S. Mail (postmarked) or on-line at www.alexander-vfedexground-settlement.com.
2) February 15, 2016:
Deadline for filing Challenge to amount of Estimated
Settlement Share by U.S. Mail (postmarked) (challenges may not be filed on-line)
3) February 15, 2016:
Deadline for filing Requests for Exclusion from the class
and/or the meal and rest break settlement subclass with the U.S. District Court by U.S.
Mail (exclusion requests may not be filed on on-line)
4) February 15, 2016:
Deadline for filing Objections to Settlement and Notice of
Intent to Appear at the Final Approval Hearing with the U.S. District Court by U.S.
Mail (objections may not be filed on-line)
Additionally, the Final Approval Hearing has been moved from March 24, 2016 to April 7, 2016.
If you have already received and filed a Claimant Identification form and W-9 form with
Rust Consulting, either by mail or on-line, you do not need to submit these documents
again. However, the correct estimate of your estimated settlement payment is reflected in the
enclosed packet and it is different than the earlier notice packet you may have received. If you are
concerned about the status of your claim in any way, please don’t hesitate to submit the claimant
identification and W-9 forms again. All valid claim forms that are filed by the February 15, 2016
deadline will be accepted.
If you have questions about any aspect of the settlement, please contact either Plaintiffs’
attorneys or Rust Consulting. Their contact information can be found in the enclosed notice.
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