Otsuka et al v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation et al

Filing 244

ORDER re: class notice to new members (tf, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/18/2010)

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Patrick R. Kitchin, Esq. (SBN. 162965) THE LAW OFFICE OF PATRICK R. KITCHIN 565 Commercial Street, 4th Floor San Francisco, CA 94111 415-677-9058 415-627-9076 (fax) Attorneys for Plaintiffs Janis Keefe, Corinne Phipps, Renee Davis, and the Certified Class William J. Goines (SBN 061290) Cindy Hamilton (SBN 217951) GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP 1900 University Avenue, Fifth Floor East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Defendants Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation; Polo Retail, LLC; Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, doing business in California as Polo Retail Corporation; and Fashions Outlet of America, Inc. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION ANN OTSUKA, an individual; JANIS KEEFE, ) ) an individual; CORINNE PHIPPS, an individual; and RENEE DAVIS, an individual; ) individually and on behalf of all others similarly ) ) situated, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) vs. ) POLO RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION; a ) Delaware Corporation; POLO RETAIL, LLC., a ) ) Delaware Corporation; POLO RALPH ) LAUREN CORPORATION, a Delaware ) Corporation, doing business in California as ) POLO RETAIL CORP; and FASHIONS ) OUTLET OF AMERICA, INC., a Delaware ) Corporation ) ) Defendants. ) ) Case No.: C-07-02780 SI STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS

JUDGE: Hon. Susan Illston LOCATION: Courtroom 10, 19th Floor 450 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, California 94102

Otsuka, et al. v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al. Case No. C-07-02780-SI STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS 1

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The parties enter into this stipulation regarding adding new members to the existing certified Class, as the Class defined in the Court's Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification of July 8, 2008. I. Additional Class Members Will Be Added to the Class. The new members are prior Polo employees who terminated employment with Polo since August 31, 2009. II. The Parties Agree On The Expiration of the Class Period for Non-Stayed Claims. The class period for all non-stayed claims expired on January 31, 2010. III. The Parties Agree that Defendants Must Produce Social Security Numbers For

A Limited Number Of Class Members The parties agree that Defendants will promptly produce Social Security Numbers directly to Rosenthal & Co., the Class Action Administrator, for the limited number of individuals whose notices are returned as undeliverable. As soon as possible, Rosenthal & Co. will send out notices to these individuals. III. Class Notice Form The parties agree that the attached form, "Notice of Pendency of Class Action" will be sent. IV. Timing Of Class Notice The Class Administrator, Rosenthal & Co., will mail the attached, agreed-upon, Notice to the new class members on or before February 23, 2010. Class members may opt out by mailing in the form on or before March 9, 2010. V. Conclusion And Summary Of Stipulation The parties, through their respective attorneys of record, hereby stipulate, with the Court's permission, that, 1. Additional ex-Polo employees will be added to the class, which is those individuals who terminated employment with Polo since August 31, 2009; 2. The class period for all non-stayed claims expired on January 31, 2010;

Otsuka, et al. v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al. Case No. C-07-02780-SI STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS 2

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3. 4. 5.

The attached Notice will be sent; Class notice will be mailed on or before February 23, 2010; Class members will have 13 days from the date of mailing Class notices (i.e.,

March 9, 2010) to postmark and mail opt-out notices to Rosenthal & Co. IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED. Dated: February 17, 2010 The Law Office of Patrick R. Kitchin /s/ Patrick R. Kitchin By: Patrick R. Kitchin, Esq. Attorneys for Plaintiffs' Class Dated: February 17, 2010 Greenberg Traurig, LLP /s/ William J. Goines By: William J. Goines, Esq. Attorneys for Defendants Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation; Polo Retail, LLC; Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, doing business in California as Polo Retail Corporation; and Fashions Outlet of America, Inc.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

_______________________________________ Judge, U.S. District Court

Otsuka, et al. v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al. Case No. C-07-02780-SI STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING CLASS NOTICE TO NEW MEMBERS 3

THIS NOTICE AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. P LEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.
N OTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION N OTICE TO FORMER EMPLOYEES OF POLO RALPH LAUREN CORPORATION, POLO RETAIL, LLC, O POLO RETAIL CORP., AND FASHIONS OUTLET OF AMERICA, INC. IN CALIFORNIA Uur records show you may be a member of a Class for whom a class action has been filed in the nited States District Court for the Northern District of California, entitled Otsuka, et al., v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, et al., Case No. C 07 02780 SI. This is a lawsuit brought on behalf of c O rtain former employees of Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, Polo Retail, LLC, and Fashion e r utlets of America, Inc. (otherwise known collectively as "Defendants"). The Class eepresentatives are Janis Keefe, Corinne Phipps and Renee Davis (the Plaintiffs"), all former mployees of the defendants. W ho are members of the Class? Class members are certain former sales associates and cashiers/customer service representatives who worked at a Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, Polo Retail, LLC, Polo Retail Corp. and/or Fashion Outlets of America, Inc. retail or outlet store in California between May 3 u0, 2002 and the present. This case is a class action that seeks monetary recovery for alleged npaid wages, including unpaid overtime wages, waiting time penalties and punitive damages. W P hat is the lawsuit about? laintiffs allege Defendants violated California's employment laws and failed to pay their employees all of their wages. Defendants deny the allegations in the Complaint and assert they followed California and Federal law, and paid employees all of their wages. The Court has not yet determined whether Plaintiffs' or Defendants' contentions are correct, or whether Defendants are liable to pay any monetary amounts. W hat do Plaintiffs claim? Polo committed fraud by making false promises to certain of its employees regarding their eligibility to receive premium overtime pay; P olo failed to pay employees for the time they spent waiting for loss prevention or "bag P check" inspections after they had clocked out; olo failed to permit employees to take all of their rest breaks; Polo failed to pay premium overtime wages to certain former employees; Polo failed to timely pay all wages due at the end of Class members' employment; Polo failed to maintain accurate pay records for employees; p misclassified certain sales employees as being exempt from being entitled to Polo Premium overtime pay; olo breached contracts with certain of its former employees; and 1

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Polo violated California's Unfair Competition Law.

T lass Action Ruling bhe Court has ruled that this lawsuit may be maintained by the representative Plaintiffs on " ehalf of the following Class: All former sales associates and cashiers who were employed in defendants' retail and outlet stores in the state of California between May 30, 2002 and the conclusion of this action." The Court also certified two subclasses of former employees of Defendants: 1 . eAll members of the class who were sales associates and were misclassified as " xempt inside commissioned salespeople. 2 . b members of the class who were sales associates from whom the defendants took All ack earned wages through its arrears program."

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stimated Recovery Plaintiffs seek to recover back wages, including unpaid wages for time spent waiting for and u a ndergoing loss prevention inspections, overtime wages, civil penalties and punitive damages, m well as interest on these amounts, attorneys' fees and litigation costs. Individual Class s member's potential recoveries will depend on several factors, including but not limited to atters such as the amount of time the Class members worked for the Defendants. No trial has yet been held and the merits of Plaintiffs' claims have not been decided. R ights and Obligations of Class Members If you fall with the definition of the Class, you will automatically become a Class member in this lawsuit. If you wish to be considered a member of the Class, you do not need to do anything f u A rther at this time, and you should NOT SEND a request to opt out of the Class. s a Class member: Y ou will be represented by the named Class representatives and the attorneys representing the Class. You will not be charged for this representation. If Plaintiffs win, Plaintiffs' counsel will ask the Court that they be paid reasonable compensation for their aepresentation of the Class. However, you may enter an appearance through your own r 4ttorney, or on your own, by mailing a Notice of Appearance to the Clerk of the Court, C50 Golden Gate Avenue, 16th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102. You may also ask the ourt for permission to appear as named Class co representative. Y oou will receive notice of any rulings affecting your membership in the Class and notice f any proposed settlement or dismissal of Class claims or any judgment rendered for Plaintiffs or Defendants. 2

w will be bound by a judgment or other final disposition of the class action lawsuit, You Y hether that disposition is favorable or not. dou will be entitled to participate, upon meeting prerequisites set by the Court, in a Y istribution of any monetary damages recovered in the litigation. ou should retain all records and documents pertaining to the subject matter of this case, including all wage and employee documents. Y ou will be deemed to have consented to Defendants' disclosing certain personally t identifiable information about you from Defendants' records to counsel for the Class so hey may represent you and determine the amount of any monetary recovery to which y eou may be entitled. Defendants have and/or will disclose your name, address, dates of mployment, payroll records, earnings records and timekeeping records.
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ou should notify the Claims Administrator, Rosenthal & Company LLC, by fax [phone] or by mail: Otsuka v. Polo Class Action Administrator, c/o Rosenthal & Company aLC, P.O. Box 6177, Novato, CA 94948 6177 of any change in your name, mailing L ddress, telephone number or email address.

I lection to Not Participate in the Class ("Opting Out") e you want to be excluded from the Class, you must send a written notice of your intent to f xclude yourself from the Class, with the information included below, by mail postmarked no la C ter than March 9, 2010, to: Otsuka v. Polo Class Action Administrator, c/o Rosenthal & Pompany LLC, P.O. Box 6177, Novato, CA 94948 6177. lease include your full name (and if your name has changed since you were employed by Defendants, your former name), your current mailing address, phone number, email address, Tnd a statement that you wish to be excluded from the Otsuka v. Polo Ralph Lauren lawsuit. a he choice to exclude yourself from the Class has certain consequences, and you may wish to consult an attorney regarding this choice. If you elect to be excluded: (1) you will not be bound by any judgment in the case and will retain any claims you may have against Defendants, r ubject to applicable statutes of limitations, and (2) you will not share in any monetary or other s ecovery that might be paid if the Class representatives are successful at trial or from any S settlement. tatus and Further Information This lawsuit may continue from this date for a year or longer. If you have any questions Poncerning the matters in this Notice, please contact Plaintiffs' counsel at The Law Office of c atrick R. Kitchin, 565 Commercial Street, Fourth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111, [e-mail], [phone]. 3

d The pleadings and all other records of this litigation may be examined and copied any time Curing the regular office hours in the office of the Clerk of the Court, United States District ourt, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. D 4 O NOT CALL OR WRITE THE COURT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE.