Gaudin v. Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc.

Filing 110

ORDER ADOPTING PARTIES' STIPULATIONS; ORDERING SAXON TO PROVIDE HOME TELEPHONE AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER INFORMATION FOR CLASS MEMBERS TO PLAINTIFFS' COUNSEL; VACATING NOVEMBER 25, 2013 CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE re 109 Stipulation filed by Marie Gaudin. Signed by Judge Jon S. Tigar on November 18, 2013. (wsn, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/18/2013)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MARIE GAUDIN,

Case No. 11-cv-01663-JST

Plaintiff,

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ORDER ADOPTING PARTIES’
STIPULATIONS; ORDERING SAXON
TO PROVIDE HOME TELEPHONE
AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
INFORMATION FOR CLASS
MEMBERS TO PLAINTIFFS’
COUNSEL; VACATING NOVEMBER
25, 2013 CASE MANAGEMENT
CONFERENCE

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Re: ECF No. 109

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v.
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SAXON MORTGAGE SERVICES, INC.,
Defendant.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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The Court approves the parties’ stipulations regarding Class Notice, further notice via the

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internet as through a Class Website, and selection of Gilardi & Co. as the Notice Administrator.

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ECF No. 109, and Exhibits A & B thereto.

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The lone dispute contained in the parties’ Stipulation and Proposed Order Regarding Class

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Notice Plan, ECF No. 109, concerns the class members’ home telephone and Social Security

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numbers, both of which are in the possession of defendant Saxon. Plaintiffs’ counsel requests an

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order requiring Saxon to produce this information, to ensure that notice to the class is as effective

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as possible; Saxon argues that “the privacy interests of the prospective Class members outweigh

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the value of disclosing the information to Plaintiff’s counsel.” ECF No. 109 at 3.

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The clear weight of authority in this district supports an order requiring defendant Saxon to

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provide the Social Security numbers and home telephone numbers of class members, subject to a

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protective order. See, e.g., Ellis v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 169894, 6

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(N.D. Cal. Nov. 29, 2012) (requiring defendant to provide Social Security numbers and home

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telephone numbers for class members; collecting cases); ECF No. 58 (protective order). Nor does

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Defendant’s authority counsel otherwise. Its lone, out-of-district case involved an opt-in class

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under the FLSA rather than the opt-out class at issue here. Stickle v. SCI Western Mkt. Support

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Ctr., L.P., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97735, 24 (D. Ariz. Sept. 30, 2009). More significantly, in

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Stickle Judge Murgia concluded that telephone and Social Security information was unnecessary

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because notice would be accomplished using first class mail. Id. at *24.

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Here, by contrast, defendant Saxon concedes that, because it is no longer the servicer for

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any of the prospective class members’ loans, “[it] may not have [class members’] most current

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information,” so first class notice may not be effective. ECF No. 109 at 3. To cure this problem,

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rather than provide class members’ home telephone and Social Security information, Saxon

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proposes to require plaintiffs’ counsel to undertake the unnecessary, cumbersome and inefficient
process of issuing subpoenas to each of the class members' current loan servicers. Id. The

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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advantages of this approach are not apparent; were the Court to follow this approach, plaintiffs’

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counsel would still obtain the same personal information regarding potential class members, but

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only after a potentially significant delay and expense.

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Weighing plaintiffs’ counsel’s need for the information, the minimal intrusion on the class

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members' privacy interests given the existence of the protective order, and the inefficiency and

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expense of the alternatives, the Court will order Saxon to provide home telephone and Social

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Security number information for class members to plaintiffs’ counsel.

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The Court hereby VACATES the case management conference currently scheduled for
November 25, 2013.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 18, 2013
______________________________________
JON S. TIGAR
United States District Judge

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