Butler et al v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC et al

Filing 24

ORDER granting #23 Stipulation to Sever and Transfer (see order for details); the severed hourly Wage and Hour Claims to be transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia. Signed by Judge James C. Mahan on 7/31/2020. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - JM) [Transferred from Nevada on 7/31/2020.]

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1 Erica J. Chee
Nevada Bar No. 12238
2 [e-mail]
OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C.
3
Wells Fargo Tower
4 3800 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 1500
Las Vegas, NV 89169
5 Telephone: [phone]
6 Amy Morrissey Turk (Pro Hac Vice)
Robert W. McFarland (Pro Hac Vice)
7 MCGUIREWOODS LLP
World Trade Center
8
101 West Main Street, Suite 9000
9 Norfolk, Virginia 23510
Phone: [phone]
10 Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
11 [e-mail]
12 Joel S. Allen (Pro Hac Vice)
MCGUIREWOODS LLP
13
2000 McKinney Ave., Suite 1400
14 Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: [phone]
15 Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
16
Attorney for Defendants
17 Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
18

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

19
20
21

DISTRICT OF NEVADA
DELANIE BUTLER and JOHN ROBINSON,
Individually and on behalf of all similarly
situated class and collective action members,

Case No. 2:20-cv-00861-JCM-EJY

22
Plaintiffs,
23
24
25
26
27

v.

STIPULATION AND ORDER TO
SEVER AND TRANSFER VENUE

PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES,
LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company;
DOES I through X, inclusive; ROE
CORPORATIONS I through X, inclusive,
Defendants.

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STIPULATION AND ORDER TO SEVER AND TRANSFER VENUE

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1

NOW COMES Plaintiffs Delanie Butler and John Robinson (“Plaintiffs”) and Defendant

2 Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (“Defendant” or “PRA”) and files this stipulation of severance
3 of certain Wage and Hour claims as set forth herein, and to transfer such claims from this Court to
4 the Eastern District of Virginia.
5
6

I.

Currently Pending Motion to Sever and Transfer

On July 6, 2020, Defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (“Defendant” or “PRA”)

7 moved, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21, to sever Plaintiff Butler’s federal and state
8 wage and hour claims brought on behalf of Defendant’s hourly workers, on one hand (“the Wage
9 and Hour Claims”), from Plaintiffs’ claim under the WARN Act and the wage and hour claims
10 brought on behalf of salaried employees, on the other (collectively, the “WARN Act Claims”); and,
11 pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1404(a), to transfer the Wage and Hour Claims on behalf of the hourly
12 employees, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division
13 (“EDVA”). See ECF 13, Defendant’s Motion to Sever and Transfer Venue and Memorandum of
14 Points and Authorities in Support (“Motion to Sever and Transfer”). Prior to filing their consents
15 to opt into this case, Butler and 11 other Butler opt-ins were already opt-in plaintiffs in the
16 substantially similar case in the EDVA (namely, Scott v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, Civil
17 Action No. 2:20-CV-00267 (EDVA) (the “Virginia Action”). Id. at II.B.3.a., pp. 7-9.
18

In addition to this Butler lawsuit and the Virginia Action, another substantially similar

19 lawsuit was filed against PRA by hourly employees in Tennessee (namely, Jones v. Portfolio
20 Recovery Associates, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:20-CV-01083 (WDTN) (the “Tennessee Action”), to
21 which Butler and 11 other Butler opt-ins also joined before opting into this present suit. See Motion
22 to Sever and Transfer, II.B., pp. 3-7. The Tennessee Action, the first filed of these three cases, was
23 transferred from the WDTN to the EDVA pursuant to a stipulation amongst the parties thereto, and
24 thereafter, was consolidated with the Virginia Action. See Tennessee Action, ECF 58, Joint Notice
25 of Stipulation to Transfer to Eastern District of Virginia, dated June 24, 2020; Tennessee Action,
26 ECF 59, Order Transferring Case, dated June 29, 2020 (“… §1404(a)’s interest of justice by
27 eliminating duplicative litigation and the risk of inconsistent results.”); and Virginia Action, ECF
28
1
STIPULATION AND ORDER TO SEVER AND TRANSFER

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1 33 (order consolidating Tennessee Action with the Virginia Action).
2

On July 10, 2020, counsel for Butler notified counsel for Defendant that Plaintiffs would no

3 longer oppose the Motion to Sever and Transfer. Accordingly, Defendant’s Motion to Sever and
4 Transfer is now unopposed. Upon entry of this Order, the Parties will seek to consolidate the hourly
5 Wage and Hour Claims of this case with the Virginia Action.
6

Accordingly, the Parties stipulate as follows:

7

II.

8

STIPULATIONS

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, by and between the Parties to this action, that all of the

9 Wage and Hour Claims that Butler asserts, individually and on a nationwide collective action basis
10 on behalf of hourly workers, for violations of the FLSA and Nevada state wage and hour laws shall
11 be severed from the remaining claims in this case. These Causes of Action to be severed are as
12 follows: 29 USC 201 et. seq. (FLSA claims for hourly employees); NRS 608.016 (unpaid wages
13 and compensation claims for hourly employees); and NRS 608.018 (unpaid overtime claims for
14 hourly employees).
15

IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED, by and between the Parties to this action, that the

16 remaining claims to remain before this Court will be the WARN Act Claims asserted on behalf of
17 all Nevada employees who were terminated related to the March 2020 shut-down of PRA’s Las
18 Vegas Regional Office (“LVRO”), along with state wage and hour claims asserted by salaried
19 employees related to the LVRO facility closure, as follows: 29 USC 2101 et seq. (WARN ACT);
20 and NRS 608.016 (compensation earned and unpaid at the time of discharge for salaried employees).
21

IT IS FURTHER STIPULATED, by and between the Parties to this action, by and through

22 their undersigned counsel, that the severed hourly Wage and Hour Claims be transferred to the
23 EDVA, where the Parties will move for the hourly Wage and Hour Claims to be consolidated with
24 the Virginia Action (Scott v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, Civil Action No. 2:20-CV-00267).
25 / / /
26 / / /
27

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2
STIPULATION AND ORDER TO SEVER AND TRANSFER

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17th

July 31, 2020