United States District Court, D. Massachusetts
LAURITA SULLIVAN and CARLOS BRYANT, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated; Plaintiffs,
v.
SLEEPY'S LLC; MATTRESS FIRM, INC.; Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO THE CLASS, AND
SCHEDULING FAIRNESS HEARING
RICHARD G. STEARNS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
The
Court, having reviewed the joint motion for preliminary
approval of class settlement agreement (the "Joint
Motion"), directing notice to the class, and scheduling
a fairness hearing, grants preliminary approval of the
settlement and the proposed Plan of Distribution as fair,
reasonable, and adequate, and authorizes the following:
a. The
Court preliminarily finds and concludes that the Settlement
resulted from good faith, arms' length negotiations
between the parties, and the Stipulation was agreed to only
after counsel for the Plaintiffs conducted investigation and
discovery of the facts relevant to the claims asserted in the
Action. Accordingly, the Court preliminarily finds and
concludes that the Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate,
and in the best interests of the Settlement Class, and
preliminarily approves the Settlement and Stipulation of
Settlement and adopts the terms of the Stipulation of
Settlement for the purpose of this Order. Capitalized terms
used in this Order that are not otherwise defined herein
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Stipulation
of Settlement.
b.
Pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,
the Court provisionally certifies a settlement class
consisting of all individuals who worked as commission sales
employees at Sleepy's stores in Massachusetts during the
time period from September 11, 2014 to October 22, 2016.
c. The
Court preliminarily finds and concludes that the requirements
of Rule 23(a) and (b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure have been met for settlement purposes:
(1) The Settlement Class is so numerous that joinder of all
members is impracticable;
(2) Based on allegations in the Action, there are questions
of law or fact common to the Settlement Class;
(3) Based on allegations in the Action that the Defendants
engaged in a uniform practice or policy affecting members of
the proposed Settlement Class, the claims of Carlos Bryant
and Laurita Sullivan ("Settlement Class
Representatives") are typical of the claims of the
Settlement Class;
(4) The Settlement Class Representatives and James
Livingstone and John Regan from The Employee Rights Group,
LLC ("Class Counsel"), will fairly and adequately
protect the interests of the Settlement Class in that (i) the
interests of the Settlement Class Representative and the
nature of his alleged claims are consistent with those of the
members of the Settlement Class, (ii) there appears to be no
conflicts between or among the Settlement Class
Representative and the Settlement Class; and (iii) the
Settlement Class Representative and the members of the
Settlement Class are represented by qualified, reputable
counsel experienced in prosecuting class actions; and,
(5) Based on the allegations in the Action, issues that are
common to the class predominate over any individualized
issues of class members.
(6) Based on the allegations in the Action, a class action is
the superior means of adjudicating this dispute.
d. The
Court approves, in form and content, the Notice of Proposed
Class Action Settlement attached as Exhibit B to the Motion,
and finds that the giving of notice in the manner specified
herein meets the requirements of due process, e. Within 21
days, the Defendants will provide the Claims Administrator,
Optime Administration, LLC, a list of all Class Members and
their last known addresses, and the Parties will provide the
Claims Administrator a copy of the Settlement Notice and
Claim Form as approved by the Court.
f.
Within 14 days, the Claims Administrator shall send the
Settlement Notice, Opt-out Form, and Objection Form approved
by the Court to all Class Members, via First Class U.S. mail,
using the most current mailing addresses presently available
to the Defendants.
g. If
any Settlement Notice is returned to the Claims Administrator
without a forwarding address, Claims Administrator shall
undertake reasonable efforts to search for the correct
address and shall ...