Ramirez et al v. El Tapatio, Inc. et al

Filing 54

ORDER granting 50 Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed Collective and Fed.R.Civ.P.23(e) Class Action Settlement. A one hour fairness hearing to consider final approval of the proposed settlement shall be held on Friday, June 13, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 1001A, Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse Annex, 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado 80294. The court shall consider Plaintiffs' Motion for Attorneys' Fees [# 51 ], filed November 27, 2013, in conjunction with its consideration of the fairness of thesettlement at the fairness hearing. By Judge Robert E. Blackburn on 2/12/2014.(klyon, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Judge Robert E. Blackburn
Civil Action No. 13-cv-00861-REB-BNB
ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ,
ABLE FORTANEL,
JOSE JESUS IBARRA,
ALBERTO URSUA,
LESLIE LOPEZ, and
CLAUDIA URSUA, on their own behalf and on behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.
EL TAPATIO, INC.,
EL TAPATIO ARAPAHOE, INC.,
EL TAPATIO MISSISSIPPI, INC.,
RODRIGO PADILLA, SR.,
ESTELIA PADILLA, and
AGLAHE PADILLA,
Defendants.

ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR
PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED COLLECTIVE
AND FED. R. CIV. P. 23(e) CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
Blackburn, J.
This matter is before the court on the parties’ Joint Motion for Preliminary
Approval of Proposed 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) Collective and Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e) Class
Action Settlement [#50],1 filed November 27, 2013. Having considered the Settlement
and Release Agreement (see [#50], Exh. 1) (“Settlement Agreement”) reached between
the proposed Settlement Class representative plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of the
1

“[#50]” is an example of the convention I use to identify the docket number assigned to a
specific paper by the court’s case management and electronic case filing system (CM/ECF). I use this
convention throughout this order.

proposed Settlement Class, and defendants, and being otherwise fully advised in the
premises, I grant the motion and enter appropriate findings, conclusions, and orders.
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED as follows:
1. That the parties’ Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Proposed 29
U.S.C. § 216(b) Collective and Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e) Class Action Settlement [#50],
filed November 27, 2013, is GRANTED;
2. That the Settlement Agreement is incorporated by reference as if fully set
forth herein, and the definitions used in the Settlement Agreement are adopted for use
herein;
3. That my ruling is based on federal common and statutory law, including 29
U.S.C. § 216(b) and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as federal and other
authority, including the Federal Judicial Center's MANUAL FOR COMPLEX
LITIGATION (4th ed. 2004) and ANNOTATED MANUAL FOR COMPLEX LITIGATION
- FOURTH (2005);
4. That the proposed Settlement Agreement is ostensibly fair and reasonable
and therefore is approved preliminarily;
5. That based on plaintiffs' counsels' submissions of the 37 putative plaintiffs'
written consents to join the collective action, and the parties’ stipulation for purposes of
certification, the court certifies the 37 opt-in parties as party-plaintiffs, pursuant to 29
U.S.C. § 5216(b) (hereinafter "FLSA Collective Class");
6. That based on the parties’ representations contained in the Joint
Motion, the court certifies preliminarily a settlement class for claims brought pursuant

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to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e) (hereinafter "Rule 23 Class”);
7. That based on the parties’ representations contained in the Joint
Motion, and pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e), the court approves preliminarily Brandt
Milstein, Esq., and Andrew Turner, Esq., as class counsel for the Rule 23 Class;
8. That pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.23, the court approves preliminarily Alejandro
Ramirez, Abel Fortanel, Jose Jesus lbarra, Alberto Ursua, Leslie Lopez, and Claudia
Urusa as the class representatives for the Rule 23 Class,;
9. That the court approves preliminarily the following class of individuals
to constitute the Rule 23 Class:
All individuals employed as hourly employees in any El
Tapatio Restaurant between April 3, 2011, and April 3, 2013,
other than those individuals who opted in to the Action prior
to October 22, 2013;
10. That the court approves the appointment of Class Action Administration,
Inc., to serve as the settlement administrator ("Settlement Administrator");
11. That the court approves the form and content of the proposed Notice and
Claim Forms, attached as Exhibits 4 and 5, respectively, to the parties' Joint Motion for
Preliminary Approval of Proposed 29 U.S.C. §216(b) Collective and Fed. R. Civ. P.
23(e) Class Action Settlement [#50], filed November 27, 2013;
12. That the Settlement Administrator shall mail the Notice and Claim Form, in
English and Spanish, and by first-class mail, to each class member by Monday,
February 24, 2014;
13. That the mailing of the Class Notice shall commence the beginning of a
sixty (60) day Class Notice period;
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14. That the Settlement Administrator shall place an advertisement, in
English and Spanish, in the legal notices section of El Semanario, the Denver-area
Spanish language newspaper, consisting of the Class Notice, at the commencement of
the Class Notice period, which advertisement shall run for fourteen (14) days;
15. That the court finds that mailing of Notice to the class and the placement of
the advertisement in the legal notices section of El Semanario are the only notices
required and that such notice satisfies the requirements of due process and Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e)(1);
16. That a one hour fairness hearing to consider final approval of the proposed
settlement shall be held on Friday, June 13, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 1001A,
Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse Annex, 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado
80294;
17. That any Rule 23 Class member who wishes to make a claim shall mail
the Claim Form to the Settlement Administrator; provided, furthermore, that to be
effective, all Claim Forms must be postmarked or received by the Settlement
Administrator by Monday, April 14, 2014;
18. That any Rule 23 Class member who desires to be excluded from the
settlement shall mail the opt-out form to the Settlement Administrator; provided,
furthermore, that to be effective any opt-out must be post-marked or received by the
Settlement Administrator no later than Monday, April 14, 2014;
19. That any Rule 23 Class member wishing to object to the court's approval
of this Settlement shall follow the procedures set forth in the Class Notice, including

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filing and serving any objections on plaintiffs' counsel by Monday, March 24, 2014;
20. That the parties may file briefs in support of final approval of the
Settlement prior to the fairness hearing; provided, furthermore, that such briefs shall
comply with REB Civ. Practice Standard IV.B.1 and must be filed, if at all, by Friday,
May 16, 2014;
21. That the parties may file responses to any objection filed as
part of or contemporaneous with plaintiffs' motion for final settlement approval;
22. That the court retains jurisdiction to consider further issues arising out of
or in connection with the Settlement; and
23. That the court shall consider Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees [#51],
filed November 27, 2013, in conjunction with its consideration of the fairness of the
settlement at the fairness hearing.
Dated February 12, 2014, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:

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