Demeuse v. Community Traffic Control LLC

Filing 27

ORDER signed by Judge Pamela Pepper on 11/27/2017. The court FINDS the settlement agreement [23-1] fair, reasonable and adequate. 23 Joint MOTION for preliminary approval of class and collective action settlement GRANTED. See order for further details. Fairness Hearing set for 12/19/2017 at 12:30 PM in Courtroom 222, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI before Judge Pamela Pepper. (cc: all counsel)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

TIMOTHY DEMEUSE,
on behalf of himself and all
others similarly situated,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 16-cv-651-pp

COMMUNITY TRAFFIC CONTROL, LLC.,
Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING JOINT MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF
CLASS AND COLLECTIVE ACTION SETTLEMENT (DKT. NO. 23) AND
APPROVING STIPULATION TO CERTIFY THE RULE 23 CLASS AND THE
COLLECTIVE CLASS ACTION (DKT. NO. 24)

On October 6, 2017, the parties filed a joint motion for preliminary
approval of class and collective action settlement. Dkt. No. 23. The parties
attached their settlement agreement, dkt. no. 23-1, and submitted a brief
explaining why they believe the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate,
dkt. no. 25. The parties also applied the Rule 23(a) and (b) standards to the
proposed Rule 23 class of all employees employed by the defendant between
June 2, 2014 and November 1, 2015 in Wisconsin who worked a prevailing
wage job (identified in Exhibit A to the settlement agreement). Dkt. Nos. 24, 232.
The court FINDS that the settlement agreement (dkt. no. 23-1) is fair,
reasonable and adequate, GRANTS the joint motion for preliminary approval of
1

class and collective action settlement (dkt. no. 23), and APPROVES the parties’
joint stipulation to certify a collective action under 29 U.S.C. §216(b) and to
certify a class action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 (dkt. no. 24).
The court APPOINTS Timothy Demeuse as class representative of the
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 Class and the 29 U.S.C. §216(b) Collective Class.
The court APPOINTS Hawks Quindel, S.C. as class counsel for the
certified Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 Class and the 29 U.S.C. §216(b) Collective Class.
The court FINDS that the parties’ Notice of Class Action Settlement (dkt.
no. 23-3) constitutes valid, due and sufficient notice for distribution to the Rule
23 Class, and ORDERS that:
1.

Class counsel shall mail the notice within seven days of the date

of this order.
2.

Putative Collective Class members may file a consent form within

thirty days of the notice’s mailing.
3.

Any individual who wishes to exclude himself or herself from the

Rule 23 Class must opt out, per the instructions in the Notice of Class Action
Settlement, within thirty days of the mailing of that notice.
4.

Any individual who does not exclude himself or herself from the

Rule 23 settlement shall be bound by any court order granting final approval to
the settlement.
5.

Any Rule 23 Class member who wishes to object in any way to the

proposed settlement agreement must file and serve those objections in
writing—following the instructions in the Notice of Class Action Settlement—
2

together with copies of all papers in support of his or her position, no later
than thirty days after the mailing of the Notice of Class Action Settlement.
6.

The court has scheduled a fairness hearing for December 19, 2017

at 12:30 p.m., for the court to hear the objections of any Rule 23 Class Member
who validly objected to the settlement agreement as provided in the notice, and
to make its determination as to the final approval of the settlement and the
amounts paid to class counsel as attorneys’ fees and costs.
7.

Class counsel shall file a motion for approval of attorneys’ fees on

or before a date at least twenty-one days prior to the fairness hearing. Any
supplemental brief in support of final approval of the settlement agreement or
in response to any objections to the application for attorney’s fees shall be filed
at least seven days prior to the fairness hearing.
Dated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this 27th day of November, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
_____________________________________
HON. PAMELA PEPPER
United States District Judge

3