Watson v. DOT Transportation, Inc. ( 2022 )

1 Jennifer Kramer, Cal. State Bar No. 203385) Email: jennifer@employmentattorneyla.com 2 Ashley Cruz, Cal. State Bar No. 306235) Email: ashley@employmentattorneyla.com 3 Adrian Hernandez, Cal. State Bar No. 325532) 4 Email: adrian@employmentattorneyla.com HENNIG KRAMER RUIZ & SINGH, LLP 5 3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1908 Los Angeles, CA 90010 6 Telephone: (213) 310-8301 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff 8 JOSHUA WATSON 9 Tyler M. Paetkau, Cal. State Bar No. 146305 Email: tyler.paetkau@huschblackwell.com 10 Olga Savage, Cal. State Bar No. 252009 Email: olga.savage@huschblackwell.com 11 HUSCH BLACKWELL, LLP 12 1999 Harrison St., Suite 700 Oakland, CA 94612 13 Telephone: (510) 768-0650 14 Attorneys for Defendants DOT TRANSPORTATION, INC. AND DOT FOODS, INC. 15 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 JOSHUA WATSON, an individual, and on Case No.: 2:21-cv-01303-MCE-AC 18 behalf of others similarly situated, 19 STIPULATION AND ORDER Plaintiffs, REGARDING BELAIRE NOTICE 20 vs. PROCESS 21 DOT TRANSPORTATION, INC., a Judge: The Hon. Morrison C. England, Jr. Delaware Corporation; DOT FOODS, INC., 22 an Illinois Corporation; and DOES 1 through 23 50, Inclusive, 24 Defendants. 25 26 27 1 This Stipulation is entered into by and between Joshua Watson, as an individual and on 2 behalf of others similarly situated and other aggrieved employees (“Plaintiffs”) and Defendants 3 DOT Transportation, Inc. and DOT Foods, Inc. (“Defendants”) (collectively, the “Parties”), with 4 reference to the following facts: 5 A. On or about June 15, 2021, Plaintiff Joshua Watson filed Case No.: 34-2021- 6 00302568 against Defendants in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of 7 Sacramento. On July 23, 2021, Defendants removed Plaintiff’s civil action to the United States 8 District Court for the Eastern District of California, where it was assigned to the Honorable 9 Morrison C. England, Jr., as Case No.: 2:21-cv-01303-MCE-AC. Case No.: 2:21-cv-01303-MCE- 10 AC is a class-action and PAGA lawsuit filed on behalf of truck drivers working for Defendants 11 from June 15, 2017 to the present who were previously or are currently employed as truck drivers, 12 as well as all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees with similar titles or job duties. Plaintiff 13 has asked Defendants to provide the names and contact information of all such employees who 14 worked for Defendants from June 15, 2017 to the present; 15 B. The Parties have met and conferred and agreed that Defendants will give a third- 16 party administrator a list of the names, last known addresses, last known telephone numbers, and 17 all known email addresses of the individuals that worked for Defendants as California truck 18 drivers at any time since June 15, 2017, as well as all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees 19 with similar titles or job duties that worked during the same time period, and that, subject to an 20 agreed-upon and Court-approved notice procedure under Belaire-West Landscape, Inc. v. Superior 21 Court, 149 Cal. App. 4th 554 (2007), the third-party administrator shall do an initial round of 22 mailed notices to the truck drivers and all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees with similar 23 titles or job duties, an address trace on any notices returned as undeliverable, and a follow-up 24 round of notices to the truck drivers and all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees with similar 25 titles or job duties, whereupon the third-party administrator shall provide to Plaintiff the name, last 26 known address, last known telephone number, and all known email addresses of the truck drivers 27 and all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees with similar titles or job duties, who do not 1 C. The Parties have met and conferred and have agreed to a notice procedure under 2 Belaire-West Landscape, Inc., supra, 149 Cal. App. 4th 554 to be administered by CPT Group, 3 Inc., 50 Corporate Park, Irvine, CA 92606 (the “Administrator”), on the terms set forth herein and 4 subject to the Court’s approval. 5 NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties hereby stipulate, through their respective attorneys, as 6 follows: 7 1. Notice to the truck drivers and all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees with 8 similar titles or job duties of the proposed disclosure of their name, last known address, last known 9 telephone number, and email addresses (“contact information”) and instructions on how to object 10 to the disclosure shall be given via a notice and return postcard, the contents of which are shown 11 on Exhibit A (“Belaire notice”) hereto. 12 2. Within fifteen (15) business days of entry of the Court’s order approving this 13 Stipulation, Defendants’ counsel shall email to the Administrator, in electronic spreadsheet 14 format, the contact information of the unique California truck drivers and all other non-exempt, 15 hourly-paid employees with similar titles or job duties, who worked for Defendants at any time 16 since June 15, 2017 to the present, along with a copy of this Stipulation and Order. 17 3. Within three (3) business days of the Administrator’s receipt of the contact 18 information, the Administrator shall prepare the Belaire notice for mailing and send it to counsel 19 for the Parties for approval. The Belaire notice shall be prepared on the Administrator’s 20 letterhead. Counsel for the Parties shall give approval or raise objections within five (5) court 21 days. 22 4. Three (3) business days after the Parties approve the Belaire notice, the 23 Administrator shall mail the Belaire notice to the truck drivers and all other non-exempt, hourly- 24 paid employees with similar titles or job duties, for whom contact information was provided to the 25 Administrator, by first-class U.S. Mail, with postage-paid reply postcards. 26 5. Subject employees receiving a Belaire notice will have thirty (30) calendar days 27 from the date on the Belaire notice to request that their contact information not be disclosed to 1 disclosure of his, her, or their contact information shall be communicated by completing and 2 mailing the return postcard to the Administrator no later than the date stated in the Belaire notice. 3 6. Five (5) business days after the deadline for the truck drivers and all other non- 4 exempt, hourly-paid employees with similar titles or job duties to object to the disclosure of their 5 contact information, the Administrator will email to counsel for the Parties an excel spreadsheet 6 with the contact information for each truck driver and all other non-exempt, hourly-paid 7 employees with similar titles or job duties, for whom contact information was provided to the 8 Administrator, except the Administrator shall first remove the contact information for those truck 9 drivers and all other non-exempt, hourly-paid employees with similar titles or job duties, if any, 10 who timely objected to the disclosure of their contact information. 11 7. Plaintiff’s counsel shall use the contact information provided to them by the 12 Administrator only for purposes of the present litigation, and shall not disseminate any of the 13 contact information to any other person or entity. 14 8. Plaintiff’s side and Defendants’ side shall split the Administrator’s fees and costs 15 for administering the Belaire notice 50/50. 16 9. At any time, either party may ask the Court to modify this Stipulation or otherwise 17 relieve the party from the terms of this Stipulation, on noticed motion or ex parte application, for 18 good cause shown. 19 20 21 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 22 Respectfully submitted, 23 24 Dated: October 24, 2022 HUSCH BLACKWELL, LLP 25 By: _/s/ Olga Savage____________ Tyler M. Paetkau 26 Olga Savage 27 Attorneys for Defendants 1 Dated: October 24, 2022 HENNIG KRAMER RUIZ & SINGH LLP 2 By: _/s/_Adrian Hernandez___________ Jennifer Kramer 3 Ashley Cruz 4 Adrian Hernandez Attorneys for Plaintiff 5 6 7 ORDER 8 GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, the Court hereby GRANTS this Stipulation and enters this 9 Order thereon. 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 DATED: October 24, 2022 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27