United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, Western Division
ROSIE BOBO; and AMBER GRAYSON, Each Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated PLAINTIFFS
v.
LM WIND POWER BLADES ND, INC. DEFENDANT
ORDER
D.P.Marshall Jr.United States District Judge
1.
The Court appreciates the parties' supplemental papers,
Nq21, responding to the Court's Order. The
revisions address the Court's concerns. The Court
understands now the reasons behind the language differences
in the release forms. And not using text messaging here is
fine considering the parties' intentions. But on the
Joint Stipulation, Nq 21-1, Claim Form, Ns 21-2
at 2, and Notice, Nq 21-2 at 9, the Court has
some more tweaks:
• On page two of the Joint Stipulation, delete
"and/" in the class definition paragraph and add
"or both" after the word "facilities."
The term "and/or" is ambiguous and should be
eliminated throughout the document with revisions, which the
Court has tried to note.
• In the middle of § 7(b), there's a hyphen
after the word "allocated", which should be
removed.
• On § 13(b), change "cure said
deficiencies" to read "cure the deficiencies
• On pages twelve and thirteen, a few things: delete
"such" in the first sentence of § 14(a); in
the next sentence, replace "Such objection" with
"An objection"; and in § 14(d), remove
"and/" in the second line. Also remove the
"and/" in § 15 on the next page.
• Take out the "hereto" in § 27.
• At the bottom of the large paragraph in the Claim
Form, Nq 21-2 at 3, replace "derivate"
with "derive from".
• Last, in the Notice's release paragraph, N°
21-2 at 13, remove the "/or" and replace
"derivate" with "derive from".
2. The
Court certifies the following group as a collective action
for settlement purposes and as a Settlement Class:
All current or former hourly paid production employees who
work or worked at LM Wind Power's Little Rock, Arkansas
or Grand Forks, North Dakota facilities or both at any time
between 2 April 2015 and 1 March 2019 who received at least
one production or attendance bonus during this period.
The
roughly 1, 250 group members are similarly situated. Through
its payment scheme, LM Wind likely failed to pay these hourly
employees for overtime that they worked. Mumbower v.
Callicott, 526 F.2d 1183, 1187-88 (8th Cir. 1975). And
the class satisfies Rule 23. Class members share a core claim
on overtime payments; the class is certainly numerous; both
Bobo and Grayson have typical claims and will adequately
represent the class. Also, because they are able and
experienced, the Court appoints Daniel Ford, Joshua Sanford,
and Joshua West of the Sanford Law Firm, PLLC, as class
counsel.
3. The
Court tentatively concludes that the proposed settlement
between the parties is adequate, fair, and reasonable. The
Court is likely to be able to give final approval. Fed. R.
ClV. P. 23(e); Wineland v. Casey's General Stores,
Inc., 267 F.R.D. 669, 675-77 (S.D. Iowa 2009) (FLSA
group and Rule 23 class). The deal shows a compromise between
the parties about what LM Wind Power owes its hourly
employees. The Court also concludes for the purposes of
notice that the proposed attorney's fees are reasonable
considering the work involved. The Court will revisit its
assessment at the fairness hearing.
4. The
Court appoints JND Legal Administration as the Claims
Administrator in this case.
5. The
Court approves, as revised by this Order, the Joint
Stipulation, Nq 21-1, Claim Form, and Notice ...