United States District Court, D. Connecticut
RAFAEL DOMINGUEZ and CESAR GRULLON, Individually and on Behalf of All Other Persons Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs,
v.
FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' UNCONTESTED MOTION FOR
PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF COLLECTIVE AND CLASS ACTION
SETTLEMENT
STEFAN
R. UNDERHILL UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
This
matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Uncontested
Motion for Preliminary Approval of Collective and Class
Action Settlement. Having reviewed the Motion, the Settlement
Agreement, the accompanying materials, and the record in this
case, and for good cause shown:
IT
IS HEREBY ORDERED AND ADJUDGED THAT:
Preliminary
Approval of Settlement Agreement
1. The
Court finds for the purposes of preliminary approval, that
the proposed settlement, as set forth in the Settlement and
Release Agreement, is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the
best interest of the FLSA Class and Rule 23 Class. The Court
further finds that the Settlement was entered into at
arm's length by highly experienced counsel. The Court
therefore preliminarily approves the proposed settlement.
Class
Certification
2. The
Court conditionally certifies, for settlement purposes only,
pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216 an FLSA Class, defined as:
all current or former technicians employed by Future
Technologies, LLC during the Class Period[1] who properly fill out and
return the Opt-in Form (attached to the Class Notice) before
the expiration of the Opt-In/Opt-Out/Objection Deadline.
3. The
Court conditionally certifies, for settlement purposes only,
pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and
23(b)(3), a Rule 23 Class defined as:
all current or former technicians who were employed by Future
Technologies, LLC in Connecticut, Nebraska, Virginia, Rhode
Island, and Ohio during the Class Period who do not properly
fill out and return the Opt-out Form (attached to the Class
Notice) before the expiration of the Opt-In/Opt-Out/Objection
Deadline.
Excluded
from the FLSA Class and Rule 23 Class are: Future
Technologies, LLC; any of its parents, subsidiaries, or
affiliates; any entity controlled by it; any officer,
director, member, manager, legal representative, predecessor,
successor, or assignee; any person who has previously
released claims that will be released by this settlement; and
federal, state, and local governments (including all agencies
and subdivisions thereof, but excluding employees thereof)
and the judge to whom the matter is assigned and any member
of his immediate family.
4.
Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, and for settlement
purposes only, the Court finds as to the Rule 23 Class that:
a. the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is
...