Donna Lee Simmons v. Lifehouse, Inc.

Plaintiff has filed an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of class action and PAGA settlement pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 3.769.

Background

Plaintiff’s PAGA Letter with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and initial complaint were filed in September 2024 for unpaid overtime, meal period violations, rest period violations, noncompliant wage statements, waiting time violations, and unfair/unlawful business practices. On December 2, 2024, Plaintiff amended the complaint to add the PAGA claim.

The parties conducted formal discovery, which included form interrogatories, special interrogatory and requests for production. Defendant provided Plaintiff with inspection of payroll, wage and hour policies and practices and other documents. After an analysis of this data, the parties attended mediation with mediator Lynn Frank. After one full day of mediation, the parties agreed to resolve this matter for $1,100,000. The parties thereafter entered into a Joint Stipulation of Class Action and PAGA settlement.

Standard

In reviewing class action settlements, the court must determine whether the proposed settlement is “fair, reasonable and adequate” considering the strength of plaintiffs’ case, as well as the risk and expense of further litigation, the ability to maintain class action status through trial, the extent of discovery completed, and the experience of counsel. (Dunk v. Ford Motor Co.

(1996) 48 Cal. App.4th 1794, 1801.) This standard also applies to review of settlements of PAGA claims. (Moniz v. Adecco USA, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 56, 64.) In this case, the evidence presented demonstrates the class should be provisionally certified. The class is defined as “All current and former non-exempt employees of Defendant who worked for Defendant in California at any time between September 26, 2020 and November 5, 2020. There are approximately 848 class member and 710 employees within the PAGA time period. The Court finds that this proposed class is ascertainable and sufficiently numerous. It also meets the commonality requirement, as common issues of law and fact appear to dominate regarding overtime, meal breaks, and related claims. The claims appear to be typical of the class, and Plaintiff and counsel appear to adequately represent the class.