Brandenburg v. Cousin Vinny's Pizza, LLC et al

Filing 55

ENTRY SUSTAINING MOTION TO CONDITIONALLY CERTIFY AN FLSA COLLECTIVE ACTION AND TO AUTHORIZE NOTICE OF PLAINTIFFS THOMAS BRANDENBURG, MICHAEL DOOLIN, KURTISMEDLEY AND BENSON RUSSELL, ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND THOSE SIMILARLY SITUATED (DOC. # 5 ); PA RTIES SHALL COMPLY WITH THE FORM AND PROCEDURES FOR NOTICE TOPOTENTIAL OPT-IN COLLECTIVE MEMBERS SET FORTH HEREIN- The Court orders the following: 1. The following collective is conditionally certified: all of Defendants' current and former deli very drivers who were employed in such a capacity at some point during or after February 23, 2014; 2. Defendants shall provide to Plaintiffs' counsel a computer-readable list of the names and contact information of all putative collective member s within fifteen daysof this Entry; 3. Plaintiffs' counsel may transmit, at Plaintiffs' cost, notice of the lawsuit to putative collective members via electronic mail and first-class U.S. mail or equivalent means; 4. Defendants shall post c opies of the notice at all of its places of business, in locations where employees would reasonably be expected to see the Notice; 5. Plaintiffs' Proposed Notice, Doc. #5-7, shall serve as the notice to be sent to potential opt-in plaintiffs, su bject to the following conditions: a. Putative collective members may sign the Consent to Join form electronically via the DocuSign website; b. The following statement shall be included at the bottom of page one of the Notice, in bold typeface: " ;Although this notice and its contents have been authorized by the Honorable Walter H. Rice, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, the Court takes no position regarding the merits of Plaintiffs' claims or Defendants 9; defenses."; c. The following statement shall be included at the top of page four of the notice: "If you decide to join this lawsuit and be represented by a lawyer of your choice, that lawyer will have to notify the Court of your intenti on to join the case no later than ninety days from the date Notice is sent."; d. The far-right hand column in the second row of the table on page two of the notice shall include the following statement: "If you choose to join the lawsuit, y ou may be required to participate in written discovery and/or attend a deposition. You may also be required to attend a trial."; and e. The statement immediately following the two bullet points on the page one of the notice read: "The Defen dants deny the allegations and claim that they did not violate any wage and hour law, and complied with the Fair Labor Standards Act in good faith."; and 6. If putative collective members wish to participate in the instant lawsuit, they shall ha ve ninety days from the date that the notice is sent to sign the Consent to Join form, return the form to Plaintiffs' counsel or counsel of their choosing. Counsel for any opt-in member must also file the signed Consent to Join form for each opt-in plaintiff within ninety days of the notice being sent. Signed by Judge Walter H. Rice on 8/14/17. (kma)