Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

269 F. Supp. 3d 975
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 14, 2017
DocketCase No. 08-cv-05221-SI
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 269 F. Supp. 3d 975 (Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 269 F. Supp. 3d 975 (N.D. Cal. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR FEES, COSTS, AND ENHANCEMENT AWARDS

SUSAN ILLSTON, United States District Judge

This minimum wage class action proceeded to trial and resulted in a $60.8 million common fund. Plaintiffs now move for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs and incentive awards for the named plaintiffs. They seek $20,266,670.50 in attorneys’ fees to be paid from the common fund, offset by an award of fees from Wal-Mart in the same amount through statutory fee-shifting. Dkt. No. 570, Mot. at 26. Plaintiffs further seek $220,149.89 in statutory costs to be paid by Wal-Mart and an additional $1,593,781.44 in expenses from the common fund. Dkt. No. 594, Reply at 2, App’x 2. Finally, they ask that the Court approve incentive awards of $50,000.00 to each of the nine class representatives. Mot. at 26.

The Court heard argument on July 28, 2017, and allowed the parties to file supplemental briefs. After reviewing the parties’ materials and arguments, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part plaintiffs’ motion.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are truck drivers in California previously employed by defendant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (“Wal-Mart”) for some period of time between 1993 and the present. Dkt. No. 73, Fourth Amended Complaint (“FAC”) ¶¶3-6. Plaintiffs initially filed this case in Alameda County Superior Court on October 10, 2008. Dkt. No. 1. Wal-Mart removed the case to this Court under the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2), in November 2008. Id.

Following a three-year stay pending a final decision by the California Supreme Court in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court, Case No. S166350; class certification in September 2014; and motions for partial summary judgment brought by both parties, this case went to trial on October 27, 2016. Upon a stipulation by the parties to modify the class period, the class definition at the time of trial was: “All persons employed in California by Defendant in the position of Private Fleet Driver at any time from October 10, 2004 to October 15, 2015.” Dkt. Nos. 406, 535 at 13.

Plaintiffs went to trial on their minimum wage claims, alleging that Wal-Mart violated California minimum wage law by failing to pay class members the minimum wage for eleven tasks. Trial lasted for sixteen days. Before the close of trial, Wal-Mart filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law, which the Court denied without prejudice. See Dkt. No. 502.

On November 23, 2016, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiffs’ favor on four of the eleven tasks at issue, finding that class members were paid less than the minimum wage by Wal-Mart for some or all hours worked for: performing pre-trip inspections, performing post-trip inspections, taking 10-minute rest breaks, and taking 10-hour layovers. Dkt. No. 529.

The jury accepted the damages calculations set forth by plaintiffs’ expert witness Dr. G. Michael Phillips and awarded damages to the class as follows:

Performing Pre-Trip Inspections: $2,971,220.00
Performing Post-Trip Inspections: $2,971,220.00
Taking 10-minute Rest Breaks: $3,961,975.00
Taking 10-hour Layovers: $44,699,766.00

Dkt. No. 529 at 3. These figures reflect the testimony that Dr. Phillips provided at trial regarding the class members’ damages for each respective task for the October 10, 2005, to October 15, 2015 time period, See Dkt. No. 497, Tr. at 1524:1-13, 1528:24-1529:15, 1532:25-1533:6, 1582:3-10.

The jury also awarded damages to the individual named plaintiffs as follows:

Charles Ridgeway: • . $10,713.46
Jaime Famoso: $33,580.62
Joshua Harold: $110,678.23
Richard Byers: $10,623.75
Dan Thatoher: $5,315.36
Willie Franklin: $26,016.69
' Tim Opitz: $49,822.94
Farris Day: $44,251.02
Karl Merhoff: $43,681.51

See Dkt. No. 529.

As discussed at trial, the Court submitted to the jury questions relevant to the calculation of civil penalties. For this purpose, the jury found that Wal-Mart intentionally failed to pay minimum wage to class ’ members in any pay period from October 10, 2007, to October 16, 2015. Dkt. No. 529 at 4. The jury accepted the calculations of plaintiffs’ expert Edward Garcia and found that Wal-Mart failed to pay minimum wage- to class members for 103,-221 pay periods from October 10, 2007, to October 15, 2015. See id.; Dkt. No. 492, Tr. at 1859:11-20, 1860:10-19.

The Court delayed entering judgment until the parties had the opportunity to brief the issues reserved for the Court. On January 25, 2017, the Court issued an Order granting in part and denying in part plaintiffs’ post-trial motion. Dkt. No. 554. The Court granted plaintiffs’ motion for restitution under the California Unfair Competition Law in the amount- of $5,861,147.00. Id. at 8. The Court denied plaintiffs’ motion for liquidated damages and for civil penalties under California Labor Code sections 1194.2 and 1197.1 respectively. Id. at 12,17. The Court entered judgment that same day. Dkt. No. 555. On May 1, 2017, the Court denied defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law and motion for new trial and decertification. Dkt. No. 577. Combining the class damages, individual damages, and restitution, plaintiffs recovered a total of $60,800,011.58.

Plaintiffs now move for attorneys’ fees, costs, and incentive awards. Dkt, No. 570. Wal-Mart opposed, Dkt. No. 587, and plaintiffs filed a reply with revised time-sheets and costs, Dkt. No. 594. Wal-Mart objected to evidence newly submitted with plaintiffs’ reply brief. Dkt. No. 595. Following the hearing on July 28, 2017, the Court allowed the parties to file supplemental briefs. See Dkt. Nos. 602, 605.

LEGAL STANDARD

California law governs plaintiffs’ motion for fees. See Klein v. City of Laguna Beach, 810 F.3d 693, 701 (9th Cir. 2016) (“federal courts apply state law for attorneys' fees to state claims because of the Erie doctrine” (internal footnote omitted)); see also Vizcaino v. Microsoft Corp., 290 F.3d 1043, 1047 (9th Cir. 2002). “Nevertheless, the Court may still look to federal authority for guidance in awarding attorneys’ fees.” MacDonald v. Ford Motor Co., No. 13-cv-2988-JST, 2016 WL 3055643, at *2 (N.D. Cal. May 31, 2016).

“This is a ‘hybrid’ class action—it was initiated under a statute with a fee-shifting provision, but- it reached a judgment creating a common fund.” See Sobel v. Hertz Corp., 53 F.Supp.3d 1319, 1324 (D. Nev. 2014), In such instances; California courts permit plaintiffs to seek attorneys’ fees both under fee-shifting law and through the common fund doctrine. See, e.g., Bell v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 115 Cal.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
269 F. Supp. 3d 975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ridgeway-v-wal-mart-stores-inc-cand-2017.