Meidl v. Aetna, Inc.

          ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS SETTLEMENT

          JANET C. HALL UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

         WHEREAS, Plaintiff Christopher Meidl (“Plaintiff”), individually and on behalf of the Class, and Defendants Aetna Inc. and Aetna Life Insurance Company (together, “Defendants, ” “Aetna Defendants, ” or “Aetna”) have determined to settle the above-captioned matter (the “Action”) on the terms and conditions set forth in the Settlement Agreement dated February 15, 2019 and all exhibits thereto (the “Settlement Agreement”), the original of which is filed with the Clerk of the Court (this settlement process hereafter referred to as the “Settlement”);

         WHEREAS, Plaintiff has filed an unopposed motion for an order that, inter alia, (1) preliminarily approves the Settlement on the terms set forth in the Settlement Agreement; (2) appoints the Settlement Administrator; (3) directs the Settlement Administrator to notify the members of the Class per the approved form of notice; (4) establishes a deadline for members of the Class to opt out of or object to the Settlement; and (5) schedules a hearing to determine whether the Settlement should be finally approved as fair, reasonable and adequate, and whether an order finally approving the Settlement should be entered;

         WHEREAS, the Court, having read and considered the motion, the memorandum submitted in support of the motion and the exhibits thereto (including the Plan of Allocation), the Settlement Agreement and the exhibits thereto, including the proposed (i) Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action and Fairness Hearing; (ii) Order of Final Approval of Settlement; and (iii) Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 Notices, finds that substantial and sufficient grounds exist for entering this Order Preliminarily Approving Settlement and Approving Notice of Proposed Settlement and Fairness Hearing (“this Order”); and

         WHEREAS, upon review and consideration of the foregoing materials, the Court has found good cause for entering this Order.

         THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED THAT:

         1. The definitions and terms set forth in the Settlement Agreement are hereby adopted and incorporated into this Order.

         2. The proposed Settlement as reflected in the Settlement Agreement and all exhibits thereto is hereby preliminarily approved. The Court finds that it is likely to be able to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate under Rule 23(e)(2) after considering whether:

(A) the class representatives and class counsel have adequately represented the class;

(B) the proposal was negotiated at arm's length;

(C) the relief provided for the class is adequate, taking into account:

(i) the costs, risks, and delay of trial and appeal;

(ii) the effectiveness of any proposed method of distributing relief to the class, including the method of ...