Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement

Department SSC-1

Hon. Daniel Buckley

Smith et al. v. Del Rey Restaurant Corporation, et al.

Case Number: BC648826 r/t BC661228

Hearing: February 11, 2020

TENTATIVE RULING

Continue Preliminary Approval for counsel to address the following:

1. Class Certification:

a. Counsel needs to address the adequacy of the class representatives.

2. Counsel needs to provide a reasonable estimate of the nature and amount of recovery that each class member could have obtained if Plaintiff prevailed as to the PAGA cause of action. The most important factor is the strength of the case for plaintiffs on the merits, balanced against the amount offered in settlement. (Kullar v. Foot Locker Retail, Inc. (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 116, 130.)

3. Proposed Terms of Settlement Agreement:

a. Class Definition. Paragraph IV.A has an addition to the Class Definition that paragraph II.1 does not (“and who did not sign a release of claims released by this Agreemen