Preview
1 SHAUN SETAREH (SBN 204514)
shaun@setarehlaw.com FiL 00 mi 0
2 WILLIAM M. FAQ (SBN 219846)
william@setarehlaw.com JAM 2 9 2021
3 NOLAN DILTS (SBN 328904)
nolan@setarehlaw.com A. Turner
4 SETAREH LAW GROUP By; Deputy Clerk
9665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 430
5 Beverly Hills, Califomia 90212
Telephone: (310) 888-7771
6 Fax: (310) 888-0109
7 Attomeys for Plaintiff
TOMAS R. ARANA
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(Additional counsel on next page)
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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
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FOR THE COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO
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ANDREA SPEARS, an individual, on behalf Consolidated Case No. 34-2017-00210560-
14 of herself and on behalf of all persons CU-OE-GDS
similarly situated,
15 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT
Plaintiff, STATEMENT
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17 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a Date: February 12, 2021
Califomia Corporation; and Does 1 through Time: 9:00 a.m. BY FAX
IS 50, inclusive. Courtroom: Dept. 41
19 Judge: Hon. David De Alba
Defendants
Original Complaint Filed: April 5, 2017
20 FAC Filed: June 29, 2017
Consolidated Complaint Filed: Dec. 21, 2017
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TOMAS R. ARANA, on behalf of himself, all
22 others similarly situated,
23 Plaintiff,
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25 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a
Califomia corporation; and DOES 1-50,
26 inclusive.
27 Defendant.
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PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
1 NORMAN B. BLUMENTHAL (SBN 068687)
APARAJIT BHOWMIK (SBN 248066)
2 PIYA MUKHERJEE (SBN 274217)
VICTORIA RIVAPALACIO (SBN 275115)
3 BLUMENTHAL NORDREHAUG BHOWMIK DE BLOUW LLP
2255 Calle Clara
4 La Jolla, CA 92037
Tel: 858.551.1223
5 Fax: 858.551.1232
norm@bamlawca.com
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Attomeys for Plaintiff
7 ANDREA SPEARS
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PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
1 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
2 At a hearing in this matter on November 13, 2020, the Court scheduled a case management
3 conference for Febmary 12,2021 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 41. The Court further directed the parties
4 to submit case management statements at least 15 days prior to that case management conference.
5 Accordingly, Plaintiffs now submit this case management statement to the Court.
6 PROCEDURAL HISTORY
7 Plaintiff Andrea Spears ("Spears")filedher Class Action Complaint against Defendant Health
8 Net of Califomia, Inc. ("HNCA") on April 5, 2017 in Sacramento County Superior Court and filed a
9 First Amended Complaint on June 29, 2017. RA 1, 13. On May 11, 2017, Plaintiff Tomas Arana
10 ("Arana," and collectively with Spears, "Plaintiffs") filed his Class Action Complaint in Santa Clara
11 County Superior Court against Health Net, Inc. ("HNI"). By stipulation, Arana agreed to dismiss his
12 Complaint filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court and file a new Complaint in Sacramento
13 County Superior Court, naming HNCA as Defendant. Arana filed that Complaint on August 1,2017.
14 RA 22. Thereafter, the parties stipulated to consolidation of Spears' and Arana's cases, and the Court
15 ordered the cases consolidated on October 11, 2017. RA 32. Plaintiffs filed a Consolidated
16 Complaint on December 22, 2017, which is now the operative Complaint in this matter. RA 66.
17 The parties proceeded through discovery, and HNCA filed a Motion for Summary
18 Adjudication on Febmary 5, 2018. RA 100. Specifically, HNCA sought summary adjudication with
19 respect to the following issues: (1) HNCA's alleged failure to include cash payments in lieu of
20 benefits in the regular rate of pay; (2) HNCA's alleged failure to include bonus payments in the
21 regular rate of pay; (3) HNCA's alleged failure to include shift differential premiums in the regular
22 rate of pay; (4) HNCA's alleged rounding practice; and (5) the derivative claims under the Private
23 Attomeys General Act ("PAGA") for each alleged violation. See RA 101. The Court, Judge
24 Christopher Krueger presiding, granted the motion with respect to Plaintiffs' shift differential and
25 rounding theories, as well as the PAGA claims derivative of each. RA 272. The Court denied the
26 motion with respect to Plaintiffs' cash in lieu of benefits and bonus theories, as well as the PAGA
27 claims derivative of each. Id.
28 On November 19,2018, HNCA filed a Renewed Motion for Summary Adjudication. RA 280.
PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
1 HNCA sought summary adjudication as to Plaintiffs' cash in lieu of benefits and bonus theories, as
2 well as the derivative PAGA claims. RA 282. Although the motion was originally scheduled to be
3 heard before Judge Perkins, and although this case was assigned to Department 35 for all purposes,
4 the motion was subsequently rescheduled before Judge BCmeger in Department 54 after Judge Perkins
5 later declined to hear it. See RA 344, 354. Judge Krueger denied that motion on Febmary 26, 2019,
6 finding that HNCA had not satisfied the procedural requirements for filing a renewed motion. RA
7 374. In addition, the parties stipulated that upon denial of this motion, the Court could grant
8 certification of the claims involved in that motion. RA 439 at 7.
9 On December 21, 2018, Plaintiffs moved for class certification with respect to the following
10 claims and theories: (1) HNCA's alleged failure to provide all requisite meal periods under Califomia
11 law; (2) HNCA's alleged failure to provide all requisite rest periods under Califomia law; and (3)
12 HNCA's alleged failure to compensate employees for work performed off the clock. See id. On
13 August 30, 2019, the Court denied Plaintiffs' motion as to Plaintiffs' meal and rest break claims,
14 finding that "individual issues would predominate" as to each. RA 439 at 5. The Court reached the
15 same conclusion with respect to Plaintiffs' allegations that employees performed work after clocking
16 out. Id. at 6. With respect to Plaintiffs' allegations of performing work prior to clocking in, the Court
17 sua sponte certified a particular issue for class-wide resolution, specifically whether "the time
18 recording systems in effect during the relevant periods prevent[ed] an accurate capture of the start
19 time of the class members[.]" Id. Per the stipulation between the parties, the Court also certified a
20 class of "All individuals who are or previously were employed by Defendant Health Net of Califomia,
21 Inc. in Califomia and classified as non-exempt and received 'MedFlxWave' payments,
22 'DenFlxWave' payments, SPOT Awards, ACA Incentive payments and/or Wellness Incentive
23 payments during the period of April 5, 2013 to December 31, 2016." Id. at 7.
24 On the same day Plaintiffsfiledtheir motion for class certification, and pursuant to stipulation
25 of the parties and by order of the Court {see RA 257 at 3), HNCA filed its Motions as to Why Spears'
26 and Arana's Cases Should Not Proceed as a PAGA Representative Action. RA 321, 322. HNCA
27 contended that Arana's claims were time-barred, that Arana lacked standing, and that Arana's meal
28 period, rest period, and off-the-clock PAGA allegations were unmanageable. RA 316. With respect
PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
1 to Spears, HNCA argued that Spears could not pursue an off-the-clock claim because she had never
2 exhausted it in her Notice Letter to the LWDA, and that her meal and rest period claims were
3 unmanageable in the same manner as Arana's. RA 315. The Court denied those motions without
4 prejudice on September 30, 2019. RA 452.
5 Plaintiffs filed their Trial Presentation and Management Plan ("Trial Plan") on January 24,
6 2020. RA 481. On March 6,2020, HNCA filed Motions to Strike Spears' and Arana's Representative
7 PAGA Claims. RA 485, 488. The Court held a hearing on those motions on October 16, 2020 and
8 denied them by minute order on October 22, 2020. RA 545.
9 Mediation has been scheduled to take place June 8, 2021.
10 The 5-year deadline to complete trial in this case is currently April 5, 2022. i
11 CASE MANAGEMENT
12 Plaintiffs respectfully request that a CMC is scheduled for thirty (30) days after the mediation
13 scheduled for June 8, 2021, or a date thereafter convenient for the Court. At that point, Plaintiffs will
14 be prepared to update the Court regarding the outcome of mediation and schedule further dates,
15 including trial.
16 DATED: January 28, 2021 SETAREH LAW GROUP
17
18 By: /s/Nolan Dilts
19 SHAUN SETAREH
WILLIAM M. PAO
20 NOLAN DILTS
Attomeys for Plaintiff
21 TOMAS R. ARANA
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DATED: January 28, 2021 BLUMENTHAL NORDREHAUG
23 BHOWMIK DE BLOUW LLP
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25 By: 6^
VICTORIA B. RIVAPALACIO
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Attomeys for Plaintiff
27 ANDREA SPEARS
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PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Preview
1 SHAUN SETAREH (SBN 204514) shaun@setarehlaw.com FiL 00 mi 0 2 WILLIAM M. FAQ (SBN 219846) william@setarehlaw.com JAM 2 9 2021 3 NOLAN DILTS (SBN 328904) nolan@setarehlaw.com A. Turner 4 SETAREH LAW GROUP By; Deputy Clerk 9665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 430 5 Beverly Hills, Califomia 90212 Telephone: (310) 888-7771 6 Fax: (310) 888-0109 7 Attomeys for Plaintiff TOMAS R. ARANA 8 (Additional counsel on next page) 9 10 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 11 FOR THE COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO 12 13 ANDREA SPEARS, an individual, on behalf Consolidated Case No. 34-2017-00210560- 14 of herself and on behalf of all persons CU-OE-GDS similarly situated, 15 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT Plaintiff, STATEMENT 16 17 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a Date: February 12, 2021 Califomia Corporation; and Does 1 through Time: 9:00 a.m. BY FAX IS 50, inclusive. Courtroom: Dept. 41 19 Judge: Hon. David De Alba Defendants Original Complaint Filed: April 5, 2017 20 FAC Filed: June 29, 2017 Consolidated Complaint Filed: Dec. 21, 2017 21 TOMAS R. ARANA, on behalf of himself, all 22 others similarly situated, 23 Plaintiff, 24 25 HEALTH NET OF CALIFORNIA, INC., a Califomia corporation; and DOES 1-50, 26 inclusive. 27 Defendant. 28 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 1 NORMAN B. BLUMENTHAL (SBN 068687) APARAJIT BHOWMIK (SBN 248066) 2 PIYA MUKHERJEE (SBN 274217) VICTORIA RIVAPALACIO (SBN 275115) 3 BLUMENTHAL NORDREHAUG BHOWMIK DE BLOUW LLP 2255 Calle Clara 4 La Jolla, CA 92037 Tel: 858.551.1223 5 Fax: 858.551.1232 norm@bamlawca.com 6 Attomeys for Plaintiff 7 ANDREA SPEARS 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 1 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 2 At a hearing in this matter on November 13, 2020, the Court scheduled a case management 3 conference for Febmary 12,2021 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 41. The Court further directed the parties 4 to submit case management statements at least 15 days prior to that case management conference. 5 Accordingly, Plaintiffs now submit this case management statement to the Court. 6 PROCEDURAL HISTORY 7 Plaintiff Andrea Spears ("Spears")filedher Class Action Complaint against Defendant Health 8 Net of Califomia, Inc. ("HNCA") on April 5, 2017 in Sacramento County Superior Court and filed a 9 First Amended Complaint on June 29, 2017. RA 1, 13. On May 11, 2017, Plaintiff Tomas Arana 10 ("Arana," and collectively with Spears, "Plaintiffs") filed his Class Action Complaint in Santa Clara 11 County Superior Court against Health Net, Inc. ("HNI"). By stipulation, Arana agreed to dismiss his 12 Complaint filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court and file a new Complaint in Sacramento 13 County Superior Court, naming HNCA as Defendant. Arana filed that Complaint on August 1,2017. 14 RA 22. Thereafter, the parties stipulated to consolidation of Spears' and Arana's cases, and the Court 15 ordered the cases consolidated on October 11, 2017. RA 32. Plaintiffs filed a Consolidated 16 Complaint on December 22, 2017, which is now the operative Complaint in this matter. RA 66. 17 The parties proceeded through discovery, and HNCA filed a Motion for Summary 18 Adjudication on Febmary 5, 2018. RA 100. Specifically, HNCA sought summary adjudication with 19 respect to the following issues: (1) HNCA's alleged failure to include cash payments in lieu of 20 benefits in the regular rate of pay; (2) HNCA's alleged failure to include bonus payments in the 21 regular rate of pay; (3) HNCA's alleged failure to include shift differential premiums in the regular 22 rate of pay; (4) HNCA's alleged rounding practice; and (5) the derivative claims under the Private 23 Attomeys General Act ("PAGA") for each alleged violation. See RA 101. The Court, Judge 24 Christopher Krueger presiding, granted the motion with respect to Plaintiffs' shift differential and 25 rounding theories, as well as the PAGA claims derivative of each. RA 272. The Court denied the 26 motion with respect to Plaintiffs' cash in lieu of benefits and bonus theories, as well as the PAGA 27 claims derivative of each. Id. 28 On November 19,2018, HNCA filed a Renewed Motion for Summary Adjudication. RA 280. PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 1 HNCA sought summary adjudication as to Plaintiffs' cash in lieu of benefits and bonus theories, as 2 well as the derivative PAGA claims. RA 282. Although the motion was originally scheduled to be 3 heard before Judge Perkins, and although this case was assigned to Department 35 for all purposes, 4 the motion was subsequently rescheduled before Judge BCmeger in Department 54 after Judge Perkins 5 later declined to hear it. See RA 344, 354. Judge Krueger denied that motion on Febmary 26, 2019, 6 finding that HNCA had not satisfied the procedural requirements for filing a renewed motion. RA 7 374. In addition, the parties stipulated that upon denial of this motion, the Court could grant 8 certification of the claims involved in that motion. RA 439 at 7. 9 On December 21, 2018, Plaintiffs moved for class certification with respect to the following 10 claims and theories: (1) HNCA's alleged failure to provide all requisite meal periods under Califomia 11 law; (2) HNCA's alleged failure to provide all requisite rest periods under Califomia law; and (3) 12 HNCA's alleged failure to compensate employees for work performed off the clock. See id. On 13 August 30, 2019, the Court denied Plaintiffs' motion as to Plaintiffs' meal and rest break claims, 14 finding that "individual issues would predominate" as to each. RA 439 at 5. The Court reached the 15 same conclusion with respect to Plaintiffs' allegations that employees performed work after clocking 16 out. Id. at 6. With respect to Plaintiffs' allegations of performing work prior to clocking in, the Court 17 sua sponte certified a particular issue for class-wide resolution, specifically whether "the time 18 recording systems in effect during the relevant periods prevent[ed] an accurate capture of the start 19 time of the class members[.]" Id. Per the stipulation between the parties, the Court also certified a 20 class of "All individuals who are or previously were employed by Defendant Health Net of Califomia, 21 Inc. in Califomia and classified as non-exempt and received 'MedFlxWave' payments, 22 'DenFlxWave' payments, SPOT Awards, ACA Incentive payments and/or Wellness Incentive 23 payments during the period of April 5, 2013 to December 31, 2016." Id. at 7. 24 On the same day Plaintiffsfiledtheir motion for class certification, and pursuant to stipulation 25 of the parties and by order of the Court {see RA 257 at 3), HNCA filed its Motions as to Why Spears' 26 and Arana's Cases Should Not Proceed as a PAGA Representative Action. RA 321, 322. HNCA 27 contended that Arana's claims were time-barred, that Arana lacked standing, and that Arana's meal 28 period, rest period, and off-the-clock PAGA allegations were unmanageable. RA 316. With respect PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 1 to Spears, HNCA argued that Spears could not pursue an off-the-clock claim because she had never 2 exhausted it in her Notice Letter to the LWDA, and that her meal and rest period claims were 3 unmanageable in the same manner as Arana's. RA 315. The Court denied those motions without 4 prejudice on September 30, 2019. RA 452. 5 Plaintiffs filed their Trial Presentation and Management Plan ("Trial Plan") on January 24, 6 2020. RA 481. On March 6,2020, HNCA filed Motions to Strike Spears' and Arana's Representative 7 PAGA Claims. RA 485, 488. The Court held a hearing on those motions on October 16, 2020 and 8 denied them by minute order on October 22, 2020. RA 545. 9 Mediation has been scheduled to take place June 8, 2021. 10 The 5-year deadline to complete trial in this case is currently April 5, 2022. i 11 CASE MANAGEMENT 12 Plaintiffs respectfully request that a CMC is scheduled for thirty (30) days after the mediation 13 scheduled for June 8, 2021, or a date thereafter convenient for the Court. At that point, Plaintiffs will 14 be prepared to update the Court regarding the outcome of mediation and schedule further dates, 15 including trial. 16 DATED: January 28, 2021 SETAREH LAW GROUP 17 18 By: /s/Nolan Dilts 19 SHAUN SETAREH WILLIAM M. PAO 20 NOLAN DILTS Attomeys for Plaintiff 21 TOMAS R. ARANA 22 DATED: January 28, 2021 BLUMENTHAL NORDREHAUG 23 BHOWMIK DE BLOUW LLP 24 25 By: 6^ VICTORIA B. RIVAPALACIO 26 Attomeys for Plaintiff 27 ANDREA SPEARS 28 PLAINTIFFS' CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT