Anthony Lingle v. Centimark Corporation, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California granted final approval of a class-action settlement resolving Anthony Lingle’s wage-and-hour and California Private Attorneys General Act claims against Centimark Corporation. The court certified the settlement class, found the agreement fair, reasonable, and adequate, and retained jurisdiction to enforce it. The court awarded class counsel $150,000 in attorneys’ fees, approved specified litigation and administrative costs, and awarded Lingle a $5,000 incentive payment.

Holdings

1. The proposed settlement class satisfied the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and (b)(3), including numerosity, commonality, typicality, adequacy, predominance, and superiority.
2. The settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate under Rule 23(e), and the settlement of Lingle’s PAGA claims satisfied the applicable California-law standard.
3. Class counsel was entitled to $150,000 in attorneys’ fees, representing 25 percent of the $600,000 settlement fund, but was not entitled to the requested $200,000 award.
4. Lingle was entitled to a $5,000 incentive award, but not the requested $10,000 award.
5. The requested litigation costs of $11,668.27 and settlement-administration costs of $8,687.04 were reasonable and approved.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the proposed settlement class satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and (b)(3) for settlement purposes.
2. Whether the proposed class and PAGA settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e).
3. Whether class counsel was entitled to the requested attorneys’ fee award of $200,000, or one-third of the settlement fund.
4. Whether plaintiff was entitled to the requested $10,000 class-representative incentive award.
5. Whether the requested litigation and settlement-administration costs were reasonable.

Disposition

other