Chang et al v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Filing 149

ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFFS 148 STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT. Statement or Motion (Revised Stipulated Judgment) due by 11/20/2023. Signed by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. on 11/14/2023. (ndr, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/14/2023)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ANNIE CHANG, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,
v.

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ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFFS’
STIPULATED FINAL JUDGMENT
Re: Dkt. No. 148

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,
Defendant.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

Case No. 19-cv-01973-HSG

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On November 9, 2023, Plaintiffs timely filed a Stipulated Final Judgment (“Judgment”).

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Dkt. No. 148. The Court has reviewed the Judgment, and is concerned about the permanent

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injunction term contained at paragraph six. Id. ¶ 6. As currently drafted, the last sentence of

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paragraph six reads as follows:

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The Releasors further are forever barred and enjoined from organizing Class Members, or
soliciting the participation of Class Members, in a separate class for purposes of pursuing
any action (including by seeking to amend a pending complaint or counterclaim to include
class allegations, or seeking class certification in a pending action in any jurisdiction based
on or relating to any of the Released Claims against any of the Releasees).

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Id.
Read literally, the term purports to bar and enjoin class members from organizing any class

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plaintiffs in “any action,” regardless of whether that action relates to the released claims. To

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comport with the identical factual predicate rule, see Hesse v. Sprint Corp., 598 F.3d 581, 590 (9th

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Cir. 2010), the Court is of the view that the closing parenthesis should be moved as follows to

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clarify that the Releasors (which includes class representatives and class members) are not

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permitted to pursue “any action . . . based on or relating to any of the Released Claims against any

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of the Releasees”:

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The Releasors further are forever barred and enjoined from organizing Class Members, or
soliciting the participation of Class Members, in a separate class for purposes of pursuing
any action (including by seeking to amend a pending complaint or counterclaim to include
class allegations, or seeking class certification in a pending action in any jurisdiction)
based on or relating to any of the Released Claims against any of the Releasees.

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The Court DIRECTS Plaintiffs by November 20, 2023 to file either (1) a revised

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stipulated final judgment reflecting the revision to paragraph six discussed in this order; or (2) a

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statement of two pages or less explaining why the language in paragraph six does not, as currently

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drafted, result in a release broader than the one approved by the Court in its Order Granting Final

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Approval of Class Action Settlement, Dkt. No. 147.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: 11/14/2023
______________________________________
HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR.
United States District Judge

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