Roberts v. TJX Cos.
| Decision Date | 30 September 2016 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 13-cv-13142-ADB |
| Parties | CELINA ROBERTS, ANTHONY SCIOTTO, ERIC BURNS, KERI DICKEY, ANGELA RAMIREZ, DIANA SANTILLAN, CAMILLE GHANEM, ARNOLD WILLIAMS, OLUWATOSIN BABALOLA, TOMMY ZAHTILA, TODD JUSTICE, GIANFRANCO PIROLO, MICHAEL O'GRADY, AND JASON FOSTER, individually, and on behalf of other persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. THE TJX COMPANIES, INC., a Delaware Corporation; MARSHALLS OF MA, INC., a Massachusetts Corporation; MARMAXX OPERATING CORP., a Delaware Corporation, d/b/a MARSHALLS HOMEGOODS, d/b/a MARSHALLS, d/b/a T.J. MAXX HOMEGOODS; HOMEGOODS, INC., a Delaware Corporation; Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
BURROUGHS, D.J.
In this putative class and collective action, the named Plaintiffs allege that their employers, The TJX Companies, Inc.; Marshalls of MA, Inc.; Marmaxx Operating Corp.; and HomeGoods, Inc. (together, "Defendants") misclassified them as exempt from the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and the New York Labor Law ("NYLL"), and then failed to pay them overtime as required by the FLSA and the NYLL.
Plaintiffs, who worked as Assistant Store Managers ("ASMs") at Marshalls, HomeGoods, and T.J. Maxx stores in various states (excluding California), allege that the Defendants misclassified them as exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA and the NYLL (1) during the period when Plaintiffs participated in a formal "ASM Training Program" sponsored by their employer (the "ASM Training Claims"); and (2) during their subsequent employment as ASMs (the "ASM Misclassification Claims").
Presently before the Court is Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion for Final Approval of a Class and Collective Action Settlement [ECF No. 135], which pertains only to the ASM Training Claims. Plaintiffs Anthony Sciotto, Angela Ramirez, Arnold Williams, Camille Ghanem, Oluwatosin Babaloa, Eric Burns, Tommy Zahtila, Gianfranco Pirolo, Michael O'Grady, Jason Foster, and Todd Justice (together, the "ASM Training Plaintiffs") move for an order granting final approval of the parties' proposed Stipulation and Settlement Agreement ("Settlement") pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e).1 In addition, Plaintiffs' counsel2 ("Class Counsel") have applied for an award of attorneys' fees pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(h), in the amount of $1,583,333.33. For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum and Order, Plaintiffs' UnopposedMotion for Final Approval [ECF No. 135] is ALLOWED. Class Counsel's fee petition is also ALLOWED, albeit with some reservations.
This case stems from three separate putative class and collective actions filed between December 2013 and May 2014—i.e., Roberts v. TJX Companies, Inc., 1:13-cv-13142; Burns v. TJX Companies, Inc., 1:14-cv-10306; and Ghanem v. TJX Companies, Inc., 1:14-cv-12104. In each case, the named plaintiffs alleged that Defendants misclassified ASMs as exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA and NYLL at Marshalls, HomeGoods, and/or T.J. Maxx stores nationwide (excluding California), and thereby avoided paying ASMs for overtime in accordance with the FLSA and NYLL.
The three cases were consolidated on August 8, 2014, when Plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint in the above-captioned action. After consolidation, the Burns and Ghanem actions were dismissed, and the parties began to discuss settlement of the ASM Training Claims. On or about October 28, 2014, the parties entered into a Confidential Mediation Agreement to facilitate negotiations. Pursuant to this Agreement, the parties exchanged detailed information and numerous documents, and each side conducted legal and factual analyses of the ASM Training Claims and Defendants' defenses thereto. In preparation for mediation, Class Counsel also conducted interviews with potential class members and investigated the actual duties and responsibilities of the ASM employees during the time they spent in the ASM Training Program. Class Counsel also reviewed Defendants' policies, procedures, and pay records to determine how ASMs were compensated.
On November 10, 2014, the parties engaged in an all-day mediation session under the direction of Hunter R. Hughes, Esq., who is an experienced class and collective action mediator. Mr. Hughes also has experience mediating wage and hour cases. During the mediation, theparties presented detailed information about their respective views of the ASM Training Claims, Plaintiffs' likelihood of success on the merits, the manner in which potential damages would be calculated, and the likelihood of trial on a class basis.
Although the parties did not settle the ASM Training Claims at the November 10th mediation, they continued to negotiate through the mediator between November 2014 and late January 2015. The parties finally agreed upon key settlement terms on January 31, 2015, and executed a proposed Settlement Agreement on March 11, 2015. See [ECF No. 82, Ex. 1].
The Settlement resolving the ASM Training Claims creates six Settlement Classes, three of which cover claims arising under the NYLL ("the "NYLL Settlement Classes"), and three of which cover claims arising out of the FLSA (the "FLSA Settlement Classes"). Within each group, there is one settlement class for Marshalls ASMs, one settlement class for HomeGoods ASMs, and one settlement class for T.J. Maxx ASMs. The six Settlement Classes are as follows:
The parties have agreed on a "claims-made" settlement, such that members of the Settlement Classes must timely file a Claim Form to be eligible to receive a settlement check. If a class member fails to do so, however, the consequences are different for the FLSA Settlement Classes and the NYLL Settlement Classes. The FLSA Settlement Classes are governed by the "collective action" procedures set forth in the FLSA, which require members of the collective action to affirmatively "opt in" to a collective action settlement. See 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Accordingly, each of the FSLA Settlement Classes is an "opt in" class. If a putative class member chooses not to opt into an FLSA Settlement Class, his or her FLSA claims will not be adjudicated in this collective action settlement. In contrast, the NYLL Settlement Classes are governed by the class action procedures set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. Under Rule 23, members of the NYLL Settlement Classes must affirmatively "opt out" of the NYLL Settlement Classes to be excluded from the Settlement. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23. Here, the parties' Settlement Agreement provides that members of the NYLL Settlement Classes may opt out of the Settlement. If they fail to do so, they will be bound by the Settlement terms, whether or not they choose to file a claim and pursue a settlement check. See Yayo v. Museum of Fine Arts, No. 13-11318, 2014WL 2895447, at *3 (D. Mass. June 26, 2014); Lusardi v. Xerox Corp., 99 F.R.D. 89, 92 (D.N.J. 1983).
The Settlement provides that the Defendants shall pay a "Maximum Gross Settlement Amount" of $4,750,000 into a qualified settlement fund to resolve the ASM Training Claims. The Maximum Gross Settlement Amount includes four components, to be paid in the following order: (1) attorneys' fees, expenses, and costs to be awarded to Class Counsel, in an amount up to one-third of the Maximum Gross Settlement Amount (here, $1,583,333.33);3 (2) the expenses of administering the settlement (which is being handled by an agreed-upon third party claims administrator); (3) "service payments"4 to each of the eleven named ASM Training Plaintiffs, in an amount not to exceed $3,250 per named Plaintiff; and (4)...
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