Gunderson v. Alta Devices, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided May 19, 2021·No. 5:19-cv-08017·Unknown

Opinion

SCOTT GUNDERSON, DANIEL Case No. 5:19-cv-08017-BLF PATTERSON, BEN LENAIL, BRENDAN OCTAVI SEMONIN and ANNETT SUESS, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all CERTIFY CLASS, APPOINT CLASS other persons similarly situated, REPRESENTATIVES, AND APPOINT Plaintiffs, Re: ECF 55 v. ALTA DEVICES, INC., Defendants. In this putative class action, Plaintiffs Scott Gunderson, Daniel Patterson, Ben Lenail, Brendan Kayes, James Bustamante, Octavi Semonin, and Annett Suess (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) seek to recover 60 days’ wages and benefits from Alta Devices, Inc. (“Defendant”) in connection with Defendant’s alleged violations of federal and state law. See Mot. for Class Cert. 10 (“Mot.”), ECF 55-1. Plaintiffs allege Defendant violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“Federal WARN Act”), 29 U.S.C. § 2101, et seq., and California Labor Code §§ 1400-1408 (“California WARN Act”; together with the Federal WARN Act, the “WARN Acts”) when Defendant terminated Plaintiffs’ employment, and the employment of the proposed Class, without providing the 60 days’ notice the WARN Acts require. See Am. Compl., ECF 47. Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ unopposed Motion for Class Certification. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3), Plaintiffs seek to certify a single class: Defendant’s former employees who reported to a certain facility and were laid off, furloughed, and/or terminated when that facility closed. See Mot 2. Plaintiffs also seek their appointment as representatives of the proposed Class and the appointment of Lankenau & Miller, LLP, The Gardner Firm, P.C., and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP as counsel for the Class. Id. Defendant did not file an opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion, which Plaintiffs noted in their Reply brief. See Reply, ECF 56. Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), the Court finds that Defendant’s Motion is appropriate for determination without oral argument, and the June 24, 2021 hearing is VACATED. For the reasons below, the motion is GRANTED. I. BACKGROUND Defendant operated a facility at 545 Oakmead Parkway, Sunnyvale, CA (the “Facility”) until the Facility was closed on or about October 21, 2019. Answer ¶ 5, ECF 48. Defendant employed Plaintiffs and members of the proposed Class (as defined infra, Section III) at that Facility until it closed. Id. Plaintiffs claim Defendant unlawfully terminated them (and the proposed Class) because these terminations occurred without cause or the 60 days’ advance written notice required by the WARN Acts. See Compl. 1, ECF 1. Plaintiffs argue this proposed Class contains between 240 and 300 of the Defendant’s former employees. Mot. 6, Decl. of Scott Gunderson ¶ 4, ECF 55-2. On December 6, 2019, Plaintiffs filed the above titled action against the Defendant alleging violations of the WARN Acts. See Compl. The Federal WARN Act prohibits an “employer [from ordering] a plant closing or mass layoff until the end of a 60-day period after the employer serves written notice of such an order . . . to each affected employee . . ..” 29 U.S.C. § 2102. The California WARN Act similarly prohibits “[a]n employer [from ordering] a mass layoff . . . or termination at a covered establishment unless, 60 days before the order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to . . . [t]he employees of the covered establishment affected by the order. . ..” Cal. Labor Code § 1401. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on June II. LEGAL STANDARD Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 governs class actions. “Before certifying a class, the trial court must conduct a rigorous analysis to determine whether the party seeking certification has met the prerequisites of Rule 23.” Mazza v. Am. Honda Motor Co., Inc., 666 F.3d 581, 588 (9th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). The burden is on the party seeking certification to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the prerequisites to class certification have been met. See Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 349–50 (2011). Certification under Rule 23 is a two-step process. The party seeking certification must first satisfy the four threshold requirements of Rule 23(a): numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). Specifically, Rule 23(a) requires a showing that: (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;

(2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class;

(3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class; and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class. Id.

The party seeking certification must then establish that one of the three grounds for certification applies under Rule 23(b). See Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b). Under Rule 23(b)(3), a class action may be maintained where: the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy. The matters pertinent to these findings include:

(A) the class members’ interests in individually controlling the prosecution or defense of separate actions; (C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating the litigation of the claims in the particular forum; and

(D) the likely difficulties in managing a class action.

Id.

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Gunderson v. Alta Devices, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2021).

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