Munguia-Brown et al v. Equity Residential et al

Filing 388

ORDER by Judge Jeffrey S. White Granting 384 STIPULATION REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA. (dts, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/23/2022)

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Margaret McBride (SBN 294066)
[e-mail]
COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES IN EAST PALO ALTO
1861 Bay Road
East Palo Alto, CA 94303
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Linda M. Dardarian (SBN 131001)
[e-mail]
Andrew P. Lee (SBN 245903)
[e-mail]
Anne P. Bellows (SBN 293722)
[e-mail]
Katharine L. Fisher (SBN 305413)
[e-mail]
GOLDSTEIN, BORGEN, DARDARIAN & HO
155 Grand Avenue, Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Classes
(Additional Counsel for Plaintiffs and the
Certified Classes listed on following page)

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UNITED DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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OAKLAND DIVISION

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JAVANNI MUNGUIA-BROWN, ANGELINA
MAGAÑA, NORMA RODRIGUEZ, DAVID
BONFANTI, and SHANNAH SMITH individually
and on behalf of others similarly situated,
vs.

Plaintiffs,

EQUITY RESIDENTIAL, a real estate investment
trust, ERP OPERATING LIMITED
PARTNERSHIP, a partnership, EQUITY
RESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT, L.L.C., EQRWOODLAND PARK A LIMITED
PARTNERSHIP, and EQR-WOODLAND PARK
B LIMITED PARTNERSHIP,

CLASS ACTION
Case No.: 4:16-cv-01225-JSW-TSH
STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER
REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF
CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
Dept: Courtroom 5
Before: Hon. Jeffrey S. White
Trial Date:

February 27, 2023

Defendants.

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH

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Craig Nicholas (SBN 178444)
[e-mail]
Alex Tomasevic (SBN 245595)
[e-mail]
NICHOLAS & TOMASEVIC, LLP
225 Broadway, 19th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

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Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Classes

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH

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This Stipulation is hereby entered into by and between Plaintiffs Javanni Munguia-Brown,

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Angelina Magaña, Norma Rodriguez, David Bonfanti, and Shannah Smith, on behalf of themselves

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and the certified classes (“Plaintiffs”), and Defendants Equity Residential, ERP Operating Limited

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Partnership, Equity Residential Management, LLC, EQR-Woodland Park A Limited Partnership and

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EQR-Woodland Park B Limited Partnership (“Defendants”) by and through their respective counsel of

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record, as follows:

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WHEREAS, on October 25, 2021 the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to expand the certified

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Standard Late Fee Monetary Relief Class to include California tenants who have been charged

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Defendants’ standard late fee from October 23, 2017 through 75 days before trial, see ECF No. 315 at

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5:20-24;
WHEREAS, on July 26, 2022, the Parties submitted and the Court approved a Joint Stipulation

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and Proposed Order Regarding Supplementation of Class List (see ECF No. 364), which planned the

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dissemination of class notice by August 24, 2022 based on the then-scheduled trial date of November

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7, 2022;

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WHEREAS, on July 28, 2022, the Court continued trial from November 7, 2022 to February
27, 2023 (see ECF No. 365), and the date 75 days before that date is December 14, 2022;

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WHEREAS, on August 2, 2022, given the operative Order re Class Notice (ECF 364),

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Defendants produced to Plaintiffs names and contact information for Standard Late Fee Class

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Members who were first charged the Standard Late Fee between January 1, 2022 to July 28, 2022,

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using the Class List query for that time period (“July 2022 Class List”);

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WHEREAS, the Parties have further met and conferred regarding parameters for Defendants’

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further supplementing the Standard Late Fee Class List and Class Member data, so that “the timing and

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sequencing of disseminating class notice and producing the updated class-member data shall occur at

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the earliest possible time when further single notice prior to trial can be effectuated,” see ECF No. 320;

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WHEREAS, given the time and resources involved in compiling and producing updated data,

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and in order that the Parties and their experts may focus their efforts on preparing for trial, the Parties

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agree that it would streamline trial preparation and reduce litigation costs to defer further data

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH

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supplementation until after trial, should the Court issue findings of fact and conclusions in favor of

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Plaintiffs;

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WHEREAS, the Parties agree that stipulating to the timeline for production of any documents
or datasets does not waive any evidentiary objections to the same datasets or documents;
WHEREAS, because Defendants’ electronic property management system (“MRI”) operates on

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a monthly cycle, the Parties agree that in order to ensure timely provision of notice by December 14,

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2022, the class list for notice distribution will be based on Defendants’ class data through October 28,

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2022, as specified below;

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NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties jointly stipulate and request that the Court order as follows:
Standard Late Fee Class List and Class Notice
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By October 14, 2022, Defendants will prepare and send to Plaintiffs a revised version

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of the Class List query to identify the supplemental class members who were first charged the

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Standard Late Fee between July 29, 2022 to October 28, 2022 (“October 2022 Class List”). Plaintiffs

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will have until October 21, 2022, to review and approve or object to this query. Once the query is

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final and the October 2022 MRI period has closed, Defendants will run this query in MRI and produce

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the October 2022 Class List, including names, email addresses and forwarding mailing addresses and

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telephone numbers (where available) to Plaintiffs no later than November 4, 2022;

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2.

“New Class Members” means the July and October 2022 Class Lists, as well as those

tenants on the December 2021 Class List who have not previously been sent class notice in this action;
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Within 20 days of receipt of this list and no later than December 14, 2022, Plaintiffs’

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Counsel shall (1) email, via a third party administrator, a copy of the applicable Court-approved email

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notice to the New Class Members for whom an email address is provided; (2) mail, by U.S. mail, a

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copy of the applicable Court-approved postcard notice, after running the addresses through the

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National Change of Address Database, to the New Class Members for whom email addresses are not

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provided; and, (3) post the long-form notice on Class Counsel’s websites. For New Class Members

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whose emails are returned as undeliverable, the third party administrator shall promptly send a notice

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by U.S. mail. Class members shall have 45 days from the date of initial notice distribution to opt out

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH

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of the monetary relief class so that the Parties have a defined class within 30 days of trial. (See

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generally ECF No. 91, p. 12; ECF No. 320, p. 1.)

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Supplementation of Standard Late Fee Class Member Data

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The Parties agree that Standard Late Fee class membership in this action cuts off as of

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October 28, 2022.

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5.

The Parties agree that the trial currently scheduled for February 27, 2023 will proceed

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based on data about class late fee charges and payments and Defendants’ costs, described above, that

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EQR has already produced to Plaintiffs, which run through December 29, 2021.

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6.

The Parties agree that, in the event that the Court issues post-trial findings of fact and

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conclusions of law in Plaintiffs’ favor, and those findings make it necessary to update the data, Equity

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will supplement class late fee charges and payment data and Defendants’ cost data for the period from

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December 29, 2021 to a date determined by the Court, and the Parties’ experts will update their

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calculations by incorporating the updated data in a manner consistent with the Court’s findings of fact

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and conclusions of law.

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7.

The Parties have not agreed about the appropriate cutoff date for the supplemental data.

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Accordingly, the Parties agree that if the Court issues post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law

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in Plaintiffs’ favor, the Parties will present their competing positions on the appropriate period for

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which supplemental data will be produced, as well as their proposed schedule(s) for data production

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and updated expert calculations, to the Court for resolution.

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IT IS SO STIPULATED.

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Dated: September 12, 2022

GOLDSTEIN, BORGEN, DARDARIAN & HO

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/s/ Katharine L. Fisher
Katharine L. Fisher
Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Classes

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH

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Dated: September 9, 2022

DUANE MORRIS LLP

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/s/ Karen L. Alexander
Karen L. Alexander

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Attorneys for Defendants

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SIGNATURE ATTESTATION
I, Katharine L. Fisher, am the ECF User whose ID and Password are being used to file this

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Stipulation and [Proposed] Order Regarding Supplementation of Class List and Class Member Data. I

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attest that concurrence in the filing of this document has been obtained from the other signatory.

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Dated: September 12, 2022

/s/ Katharine L. Fisher

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH

[PROPOSED] ORDER

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PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, AND GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, THE COURT

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APPROVES the Parties Stipulation Regarding Supplementation of Class List and Class Member Data.

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All other pretrial and trial deadlines are unchanged.

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September 23
Dated: _______________,
2022

Hon. Jeffrey S. White
United States District Judge

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862209.7

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING SUPPLEMENTATION OF CLASS LIST AND CLASS MEMBER DATA
CASE NO. 4:16-CV-01225-JSW-TSH