Morales et al v. Farmland Foods

Filing 435

FINAL ORDER OF APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE OF THE COLLECTIVE ACTION regarding 428 Motion for Settlement. The Named Plaintiffs' and Class Members' Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses shall be filed ten ( 10) days after the Effective Date. Farmland Foods' response shall be due thirty (30) days after the later of the date of filing of said Motion and all supporting materials or the Effective Date, and the Named Plaintiffs and Class Members shall have thirty (30) days to file their reply. Ordered by Judge Joseph F. Bataillon. (GJG)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA MARIA GUZMAN MORALES and MAURICIO GUARJARDO, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Case No. 8:08-cv-504-JFB-TDT Plaintiffs, vs. FARMLAND FOODS, INC., a Delaware Corporation and subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Defendant. FINAL ORDER OF APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT AND DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE OF THE COLLECTIVE ACTION The Parties in this action have submitted a Joint Motion for Final Approval of The Collective Action Settlement. Upon consideration of the motion, as well as the declarations submitted in support of the motion; the parties’ prior briefing regarding the settlement; the notices to class members; all other settlement documents and the pleadings in the case as a whole; and any argument at the Final Fairness Hearing, and having concluded that the settlement and accompanying notices are a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute, the Court hereby enters the following order: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 1. The Court grants final approval of the parties’ Settlement Agreement and Release (“Settlement Agreement”) (Dkt. No. 425-3). 2. The Court further finds that the Settlement Agreement was reached following meaningful discovery and investigation conducted by Class Counsel; the Settlement Agreement is a result of adversarial, arms’-length negotiation between the parties; and the terms of settlement in all respects are fair, adequate, and reasonable. In so finding, the Court considered evidence presented regarding the merits of the Plaintiffs’ case, the risk, expense and complexity of the claims presented, the likely duration of further litigation, the amount offered in settlement, the extent of investigation and discovery completed, and the experience and views of Class Counsel. The Court further considered the one objection and one request for exclusion to the proposed settlement by Class Members. After full consideration, the Court finds that this settlement provides substantial benefits to the participating class members for the claims alleged in the complaint. The settlement is a fair, reasonable and adequate resolution of a bona fide dispute. 3. The Court grants Plaintiffs’ request for service awards of $5,000.00 each to the two Named Plaintiffs, Maria Guzman Morales and Mauricio Guajardo, and individual service awards of $2,500.00 each of the Opt-In Plaintiffs (other than the two Named Plaintiffs) who gave a deposition in this case, Michael Calkin, Elija Davis, Tom Disney, Tammi Filipi, John Gatlauk, John Hochstein, Josefa Morales, Jose Quiroz, Robert Radin and Manuel Valdez. The Court finds that these service awards are fair and reasonable based on the assistance that the Named Plaintiffs and Opt-In Plaintiffs provided to Plaintiffs’ Counsel on behalf of the Class. 4. The Court also finds that the designated cy pres recipient, The Omaha office of Nebraska Legal Aid, is reasonable and appropriate. 5. Class Member Barakat H. Merzah (Employee ID 212729) submitted a request to opt out of the settlement in accordance with Section VI.B.9 of the Settlement Agreement. Accordingly, he will not receive any settlement funds but instead is hereby dismissed without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41, pursuant to Section VI.B.9 of the Settlement Agreement. 2 6. The following Class Members did not submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator which was timely or which the parties jointly agree to deem timely. In keeping with Farmland’s election pursuant to Section VI.B.9 of the Settlement Agreement, these persons are hereby dismissed without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41: Employee ID First Name Last Name 103941 208800 212978 208797 206656 213284 403410 401495 101795 213025 212366 208096 204224 400761 212319 214239 213925 210858 207439 209852 210401 209156 212425 207925 208258 200958 205389 202260 209146 103915 208628 201056 208193 205129 208693 214468 NHUNG THI HONG RAPHAEL SUZANNE C IVAN DE JESUS KAMIL O HUGO A RUTH ELENA JUAN ANIVAL ORALIA JEKOW T NAYIBE R MUZIN M WILDER R GAGA JARED D JEFFREY G JANE NEFTALI LUAL A L DAMARIS AN BANG JAMES N CHRISTOPHER A VICTORIA Y ABEL CARLOS A AHREN S DARAKHSHAN CRISTINA CESAR A CHUOL NOE D MANUEL SUAD O SANTOS GABRIEL G NGUYEN OBARI BUCKENDAHL OSLAN-SANTIAGO KISHEIB RIVERA-BELIZ RAMIREZ ORTEGA-VALLADARES OLIVO RUALMIM MOLINA ABDALLAH MOLINA-ORTEGA KPRAZEON FONDELL LONG GIBSON SOLARES-MARROQUIN AJANG FLORES-GONZALEZ DUONG LASU HARRISON RAGE REVOLORIO DELEON AMBROSE MORADI LOPEZ LINARES PADOL VELASQUEZ XON-MORALES KISHEIB RAMOS MANUEL 3 214551 209435 203379 213462 101658 400372 209712 214175 200800 7. ENEZ JOHN L CARMEN CHANTEL L ABRAN PAE EHTI GAW RODA M JAMES M HADJI YUAL ESCALANTE WICKWIRE VILLALOBOS PAE DAH GAI GOP The following Class Members submitted a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator which was timely or which the parties jointly agree to deem timely. The claims of these persons are hereby dismissed with prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41. After the Claims Administrator makes the calculations of Settlement Shares as to said Class Members and notifies Farmland of said amounts, Farmland shall deposit with the Claims Administrator the amounts attributable to said Class Members, together with the employer’s lawful share of FICA and FUTA taxes on one-half of said amounts: Employee ID First Name Last Name 100384 100466 100472 100473 100490 101502 101559 101648 102282 102337 102428 103012 103148 103632 103765 103793 103804 103856 103991 104000 MAI T NOLBIA L LEONARDO G JUANA A NYARIAL T ALFONSO PAMELA A BENNY C DAVID JANICE E NYAKUOTH MARICELA NGUYEN THANH THAM VAN KIM C ROGER A DAVID L ANH VAN JOYCE LARRY J NGO PRUDOT NAVA RAMIREZ THON MEZA-C STARKEY KILSON VALDEZ BENTS BEAL ROMO NGUYEN NGUYEN STEPHENS OBERMIER THOMPSON DUONG TICNOR ROBINSON 4 104012 104035 104051 104055 104096 104120 104123 104156 104186 104223 104236 104238 104251 104267 104289 104299 104320 104341 104342 104346 104347 104370 104534 104573 104678 104737 104755 105193 105256 105639 105855 105912 106079 106199 106285 106598 200216 200533 200642 200903 201228 201445 202165 202826 202906 202986 CAROL M BRIAN J AMY SUE DAVID SON VAN HUYENTRAN NGOC NGUYET THI ELSA MARTIN N JERALD J MICHAEL J TAMMIE A EDDIE D KEVIN L LYNDA THAIS R DAVID W SHEILA M JASON K TERESA DIEP VAN DUC P BRIAN S MATTHEW HUONG DUY GERALDINE L MICHELLE R DIANNE M DEBRA L SEBASTIAN RAQUEL CELSO IRMA C MARTIN MARIA CARLOS MIGUEL A JUAN BRUCE NESTORA O GUADALUPE HIEN QUANG STEPHEN T JOSE A AHMED A ALICIA 5 KOTAS GARTZKE DEVOR ROGERS TRAN HUYNH NGUYEN TESFAMICHAEL MADUOK SAURER CALKIN FILIPI FOWLER TICNOR STASTNY BREJCHA INDERLIED RENSCHLER DENKER KSIONZEK NGUYEN NGUYEN LUKERT SPANJER NGUYEN WALLER SCHULTZ STOWELL SPANJER ALFARO DEL CARMEN GARCI VALDES ARREAGA DE JESUS DOMINGU GUZMAN-MORALES HERNANDEZ PINEDA GARCIA MORA-ROMERO ATH GOMEZ ACOSTA TRUONG JUD QUIROZ SHAN GARCIA 202997 203174 203183 203438 203464 203516 203637 204331 204482 204865 204970 205124 205251 205326 205399 207025 207032 207141 207548 207636 207638 207639 207640 208208 208502 208543 208584 208590 208698 209041 209145 209148 209153 209847 209848 209975 210248 210409 210485 210549 210667 210671 210731 212491 212596 212668 OBEDE L DENG R FRANCISCO J VIRGINIA Y JOHN A ELENA ROMAN E ILSER N ROBERT J HUE THI MAURICIO R THOMAS L PETR A ARTURO MARLENE JOSE J RHONDA R DAVID L JOSE R EL FATEH K PETRO MIGUEL A JOSEFA D JOHN K YECENIA L JAMES A MANUELA ROMAN A WOL O JAMES K ESCARLIN M JOSE L MARTHA N OFELIA FRANCISCO ROSEMARY MIREYA JIMMIE D PETER P ABDOURAHMANE Y SERHIY P MAJOK D ASHLEY W ORION J JOSUE L JOHN C 6 LASU AGANG GARCIA-MONTOYA FLORES KOR TELLEZ AGUILERA-MEJIA MENDEZ-LOPEZ GRANNAS NGUYEN GUAJARDO DISNEY KOROL PULIDO-PRIETO CASTRO-VENTO PULIDO FONDELL JOHN CUBANO-VICENTE OSMAN BOYARCHUK MORALES MORALES NGUTH ESCOBAR-ARRIAGA WEL GARCIA PLAKSIN YAK NYOK MANCIA-ALVARADO ULLOA-ALVARADO JOCK PEREZ PEREZ SANDERS LUJAN SMITH RIEK LAM ANDRIYASHYN DIT WOUNDED ARROW BANDLOW AMAYA GATLUAK 212725 212833 213129 213193 213299 213667 213804 213918 213978 214315 214317 214461 214607 214613 400116 401158 401501 101627 105609 204628 205205 207737 208247 210555 214409 401496 104126 213130 8. FALLON D JEFFREY L JODY R MARCUS D ELIJA J WILLIAM M ADESSA A LUCIO NYACHOAT C JOHN P ANGELA L TUT KUETH IRENE DAVID L SOE PATRICIA LUIS R TIMMY VILMA A PETER B MARIA JIMENEZ DE NESTOR AMANDA L MEMPHIS K RHONDA J HUONG NGOC HANH KIM JIMMY L HOWARD PUTNAM MARKUT JEFFERSON DAVIS PYPER KNICKERBOCKER SANCHEZ GUANGONG HOCHSTEIN GRAHAM KET GOODWIN TELLEZ NEI BEETEM CASTRO PARKER HIDALGO BILIEW GUTIERREZ PINEDA DOOLITTLE MENSAH WHITNEY NGUYEN NGUYEN LIVINGSTON The following Class Members did not submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator which was timely or which the parties jointly agree to deem timely. The claims of these persons are hereby dismissed with prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41. After the Claims Administrator makes the calculations of Settlement Shares as to said Class Members and notifies Farmland of said amounts, Farmland shall pay the Settlement Awards for the persons listed below in a lump sum directly to the Omaha office of Legal Aid of Nebraska, the mutually-agreed cy pres recipient. Employee ID First Name Last Name 214105 RICARDO M PERALES 7 213360 209157 214248 209004 401168 214057 106346 207142 401181 400101 214467 214252 213916 213465 213359 212834 212655 212594 210113 209550 209038 104294 204785 205337 103687 208498 106036 103703 104462 106545 106188 106018 103846 100934 203170 104468 104311 106413 103649 104455 103694 100433 100434 104358 202002 200033 ROBERT TOMAS ANYATH ROBERTO M THAN WAH SOE MARTIN ADAM A SERHIY MAY MINH TAM KUO CHEN ALBINA XE THI RICHARD SAMUEL XUYEN THI MUAMER HTOO QUOC Q JULIA ALAN J BRIAN G TAHIR N JOSE A MIRIAN MARLENE NGOC TRUC THI VIRGINIA ENA MARIO YOLANDA THANG T ROSA M ANNA TUNG VUONG MANH STEVEN L GLORIA IBRO AURELIA MUNEVERA ABDULAH IVANA TIME XUAN LOC TAN MY TUYET THI 8 MASOLO-MAVANGA VENDRELL S AMAU ACOSTA ZAW PAW JUNES-RIOS SABIL RATUSHKO HTOO THUY LY LI GARCIA-JIMENEZ LE MBONGO-MAKETA BROWNE DINH BALAS BAW DOAN OSORIO BERNASEK BITENIEKS AL-IBRAHIM GARCIA BARILLAS BENAVIDES NGUYEN ADAME DE LOPEZ AGUIRRE-REGALADO BORRAYO COLIN DANG DIAZ DO DOAN EMPFIELD GUTIERREZ HURKO IBARRA DE AVALOS IBRICIC KAVAZ KAVAZ KIM MA MAI 103925 103899 204289 104350 201808 105541 203932 208202 201008 103603 200917 103761 104257 201346 9. HONG THI MAIRA Y NORMA E TAMMY KEFAYAT PAULO CONFESOR C THUYTRINH THI LUYEN THI PHUOC VAN MANUEL GORDON J FRANK W KAWTHER I NGUYEN PADILLA PEREZ-MENDEZ RUIZ SABETRASEKH SOLTERO TAPIA TO TRAN TRAN VALDEZ VLASAK WEISS YOUNIS The parties are directed to comply with the terms of the Settlement Agreement as construed and implemented by this Order. 10. The claims administrator, Rust Consulting, Inc. is directed to disburse funds in compliance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement as construed and implemented by this Order. 11. Final judgment is hereby entered dismissing this action with prejudice, reserving only the issue of attorney’ fees and expenses as provided below. 12. The Named Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses shall be filed ten (10) days after the Effective Date. Farmland Foods’ response shall be due thirty (30) days after the later of the date of filing of said Motion and all supporting materials or the Effective Date, and the Named Plaintiffs and Class Members shall have thirty (30) days to file their reply. ENTERED this 2nd day of August, 2012. BY THE COURT: s/ Joseph F. Bataillon United States District Judge 9

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