This is a Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement brought by Plaintiffs William Masterson, James Peak and Matthew Scott (“Plaintiffs”) on behalf of themselves individually and all persons similarly situated who are current or former employees of Defendant First Alarm Security and Patrol, Inc. (“Defendant”) who worked as a security officer in California between September 11, 2008 and May 7, 2014 (“the Class Period”).

For purposes of a brief procedural background, this case was originally filed on September 12, 2012 and Plaintiff’s Third Amended Complaint was filed on December 19, 2013. After engaging in formal mediation on a couple separated occasions and with the assistance of an experienced employment mediator, the parties reached a written settlement agreement on or about September 24, 2014. Thereafter, the Plaintiffs’ moved for provisional certification of the class as well as preliminary approval of the Class Action Settlement on December 19, 2014. At that time, the Court issued its tentative decision which granted provisional certification of the class, but requested further information and documentation regarding the fairness component of the settlement agreement and specifically, how the settlement formula would apply to the average class member. At that time, the Court opined that the 25% contingency fee out of the gross settlement fund was reasonable under the “common fund” doctrine, but requested information regarding a lodestar cross-check prior to final approval. The Court also approved the class notice and notice procedures and granted preliminary approval as to the incentive awards to the representative plaintiffs. In its Order dated December 19, 2014, the Court continued the Preliminary Approval Hearing to Jan. 30, 2015 to allow Plaintiffs to submit additional documentation regarding the implementation of the settlement formula to the average class member.

After receipt and review of additional documentation, the Court granted Preliminary Approval of the Class Action Settlement on January 30, 2015. At that time, the Court set the matter for a Final Approval Hearing on May 29, 2015. The Court has now had an opportunity to review the moving papers as well as the supporting Declarations and exhibits in connection with the request for an order granting final approval. For sake of brevity, the Court will not repeat its analysis in the Preliminary Approval Orders dated Dec. 19, 2014 and January 30, 2015 and they will be incorporated by reference into this Order.

According to the Declaration of Maggie McGill of Gilardi and Co. LLC (the Settlement Administrator), the Notice Packet was sent to 2452 individuals named on the Class List on Feb. 20, 2015. Thereafter, on March 17, 2015, a reminder postcard was sent to 2106 individuals who had not yet responded. As on the claims filing deadline of April 21, 2015, Gilardi had received 747 timely claims forms and subsequently received 7 late claims forms. This is a filing rate of 31% and while there were no objections to the Class Settlement, there were approximately 23 opt-outs. Ms. McGill further details the steps taken by Gilardi to properly provide notice and administrate the claims process and notes that the average claim value based upon valid claims is $463.09. The Court finds this satisfactory and approves the Settlement Administator’s fees in the sum of $45,000.

Regarding the experience of counsel and the 25% contingency fee allocation, the Court has conducted a lodestar cross-check from the information contained in the Declaration of Norman Blumenthal and approves the requested fees in the amount of $150,000. The Court further approves the incentive awards as set forth in the moving papers in the amount of $10,000 to Named Plaintiff Swartout and $5000 to Named Plaintiffs Masterson, Peak and Scott.

For the reasons set forth above and those set forth in the Preliminary Approval Orders, the Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement is GRANTED.