Frequently Asked Questions

1. WHAT IS THE ACTION ABOUT?

Plaintiffs are former ASD employees. The Action accuses ASD of violating California labor laws by failing to pay overtime wages, minimum wages, wages due upon termination and reimbursable expenses and failing to provide meal periods, rest breaks and accurate itemized wage statements. Based on the same claims, Plaintiffs have also asserted a claim for civil penalties under the California Private Attorneys General Act (Lab. Code, § 2698, et seq.) (“PAGA”). Plaintiffs is represented by attorneys in the Action: Alan Harris and Priya Mohan of Harris & Ruble (“Class Counsel.”)

Defendants strongly deny violating any laws or failing to pay any wages and contend they complied with all applicable laws.

2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THE ACTION HAS SETTLED?

So far, the Court has made no determination whether Defendants or Plaintiffs are correct on the merits. In the meantime, Plaintiffs and Defendants hired an experienced, neutral mediator, in an effort to resolve the Action by negotiating an to end the case by agreement (settle the case) rather than continuing the expensive and time-consuming process of litigation. The negotiations were successful. By signing a lengthy written settlement agreement (“Agreement”) and agreeing to jointly ask the Court to enter a judgment ending the Action and enforcing the Agreement, Plaintiffs and Defendants have negotiated a proposed Settlement that is subject to the Court’s Final Approval. Both sides agree the proposed Settlement is a compromise of disputed claims. By agreeing to settle, Defendants do not admit any violations or concede the merit of any claims.

Plaintiffs and Class Counsel strongly believe the Settlement is a good deal for you because they believe that: (1) Defendants have agreed to pay a fair, reasonable and adequate amount considering the strength of the claims and the risks and uncertainties of continued litigation; and (2) Settlement is in the best interests of the Class Members and Aggrieved Employees. The Court preliminarily approved the proposed Settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate, authorized the Notice, and scheduled a hearing to determine Final Approval.

3. WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT TERMS OF THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT?

• Defendants Will Pay $759,960.00 as the Gross Settlement Amount (Gross Settlement). Defendants have agreed to deposit the Gross Settlement into an account controlled by the Administrator of the Settlement. The Administrator will use the Gross Settlement to pay the Individual Class Payments, Individual PAGA Payments, Class Representative Service Payment, Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees and expenses, the Administrator’s expenses, and penalties to be paid to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (“LWDA”). Assuming the Court grants Final Approval, Defendants will fund the Gross Settlement not more than 14 days after the Judgment entered by the Court becomes final. The Judgment will be final on the date the Court enters Judgment, or a later date if Participating Class Members object to the proposed Settlement or the Judgment is appealed.
• Court Approved Deductions from Gross Settlement. At the Final Approval Hearing, Plaintiffs and/or Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve the following deductions from the Gross Settlement, the amounts of which will be decided by the Court at the Final Approval Hearing:
  • Up to $253,320.00, thirty-three and one third percent of the Gross Settlement to Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and up to $21,000 for their litigation expenses.
  • Up to $5,000 each as a Class Representative Award for Plaintiffs Halvorsen, Zucker, and Martinez for filing the Action, working with Class Counsel and representing the Class. A Class Representative Award will be the only monies Plaintiffs will receive other than Plaintiffs’ Individual Class Payment and any Individual PAGA Payment.
  • Up to $29,000 to the Administrator for services administering the Settlement.
  • Up to $20,000 for PAGA Penalties, allocated 75% to the LWDA PAGA Payment ($15,000) and 25% in Individual PAGA Payments to the Aggrieved Employees ($5,000) based on their PAGA Period Pay Periods.
  Participating Class Members have the right to object to any of these deductions. The Court will consider all objections.
• Net Settlement Distributed to Class Members. After making the above deductions in amounts approved by the Court, the Administrator will distribute the rest of the Gross Settlement (the “Net Settlement”) by making Individual Class Payments to Participating Class Members.

• Taxes Owed on Payments to Class Members. Plaintiffs and Defendants are asking the Court to approve an allocation of twenty-five percent (25%) of each Individual Class Payment to taxable wages (“Wage Portion”). ASD will separately pay employer payroll taxes it owes on the Wage Portion.) The Wage Portion is subject to withholdings and will be reported on IRS W-2 Forms. Fifty percent (50%) of each Individual Class Payment will be allocated to settlement of claims for interest and penalties (the “Non-Wage Portion”). The remaining twenty-five percent (25%) of each Individual Class Payment will be allocated to reimbursement of expenses. The Individual PAGA Payments are counted as penalties rather than wages for tax purposes. The Administrator will report the Individual PAGA Payments and the Non-Wage Portions of the Individual Class Payments on IRS 1099 Forms.

  Although Plaintiffs and Defendants have agreed to these allocations, neither side is giving you any advice on whether your Payments are taxable or how much you might owe in taxes. You are responsible for paying all taxes (including penalties and interest on back taxes) on any Payments received from the proposed Settlement. You should consult a tax advisor if you have any questions about the tax consequences of the proposed Settlement.

• Need to Promptly Cash Payment Checks. The front of every check issued for Individual Class Payments and Individual PAGA Payments will show the date when the check expires (the void date). If you don’t cash it by the void date, your check will be automatically cancelled, and the monies will be distributed to other Class Members who did cash their Individual Class Payment. Any such Class Member who cashes their initial Individual Class Payment but who failed to cash the second check by the second void date will have the amount of the second check deposited with the California Controller’s Unclaimed Property Fund in their name.

• Requests for Exclusion from the Class Settlement (Opt-Outs). You will be treated as a Participating Class Member, participating fully in the Class Settlement, unless you notify the Administrator in writing, not later than November 8, 2024, that you wish to opt-out. The easiest way to notify the Administrator is to send a written and signed Request for Exclusion by the November 8, 2024 Response Deadline. The Request for Exclusion should be a letter from a Class Member or his/her/their representative setting forth a Class Member’s name, present address, telephone number, and a simple statement electing to be excluded from the Settlement. Excluded Class Members (i.e., Non-Participating Class Members) will not receive Individual Class Payments but will preserve their rights to personally pursue wage and hour claims against Defendants.

  You cannot opt-out of the PAGA portion of the Settlement. Class Members who exclude themselves from the Class Settlement (Non-Participating Class Members) remain eligible for Individual PAGA Payments and are required to give up their right to assert PAGA claims against ASD based on the PAGA Period facts alleged in the Action.

• The Proposed Settlement Will be Void if the Court Denies Final Approval. It is possible the Court will decline to grant Final Approval of the Settlement or decline enter a Judgment. It is also possible the Court will enter a Judgment that is reversed on appeal. Plaintiffs and Defendants have agreed that, in either case, the Settlement will be void. Defendants will not pay any money and Class Members will not release any claims against Defendants.
• Administrator. The Court has appointed a neutral company, Simpluris Inc. (the “Administrator”) to send the Notice, calculate and make payments, and process Class Members’ Requests for Exclusion. The Administrator will decide Class Member Challenges over Workweeks, mail and re- mail settlement checks and tax forms, and perform other tasks necessary to administer the Settlement. The Administrator’s contact information is located here.

• Participating Class Members’ Release. After the Judgment is final and Defendants have fully funded the Gross Settlement (and separately paid all employer payroll taxes), Participating Class Members will be legally barred from asserting any of the claims released under the Settlement. This means that unless you opted out by validly excluding yourself from the Class Settlement, you cannot sue, continue to sue or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendants or related entities for wages based on the Class Period facts and PAGA penalties based on PAGA Period facts, as alleged in the Action and resolved by this Settlement.

  The Participating Class Members will be bound by the following release:

  All Participating Class Members, on behalf of themselves and their respective former and present representatives, agents, attorneys, heirs, administrators, successors and assigns, release Released Parties from (i) all claims that were alleged, or reasonably could have been alleged, based on the Class Period facts stated in the Operative Complaint including, e.g., (a) any and all claims involving an alleged failure to pay wages due upon termination of employment; (b) any and all claims involving an alleged failure to provide compliant wage statements; (c) any and all claims involving an alleged failure to provide meal breaks; (d) any and all claims involving an alleged failure to provide rest breaks; € any and all claims involving an alleged failure to pay minimum wages; (f) any and all claims involving an alleged failure to pay overtime wages. The released claims include all claims based on the Class Period facts stated in the Operative Complaint arising under the California Labor Code (including sections 201, 201.3, 201.5, 202, 203, 204, 210, 218.5, 218.6, 226(a), 226.7, 226.8, 510, 512, 515, 558, 558.1, 1174 , 1194, 1194.2, 1197, 1198, 2802 and 2810.3); the Wage Orders of the California Industrial Welfare Commission; California Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq. Participating Class Members who negotiate or otherwise deposit their Settlement Payment Check will be deemed to have opted into the Action for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and as to those Class Members they expressly waive and release any FLSA claims arising during the Class Period and reasonably related to the claims and allegations in the Operative Complaint, as amended. Except as set forth in Section 5.3 of this Agreement, Participating Class Members do not release any other claims, including claims for vested benefits, wrongful termination, violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, unemployment insurance, disability, social security, workers’ compensation or claims based on facts occurring outside the Class Period.

• Aggrieved Employees’ PAGA Release. After the Court’s judgment is final, and Defendants have paid the Gross Settlement (and separately paid the employer-side payroll taxes), all Aggrieved Employees will be barred from asserting PAGA claims against Defendants, whether or not they exclude themselves from the Settlement. This means that all Aggrieved Employees, including those who are Participating Class Members and those who opt-out of the Class Settlement, cannot sue, continue to sue or participate in any other PAGA claim against XYZ or its related entities based on the PAGA Period facts alleged in the Action and resolved by this Settlement.

  The Aggrieved Employees’ Releases for Participating and Non-Participating Class Members are as follows:

  All Non-Participating Class Members who are Aggrieved Employees are deemed to release, on behalf of themselves and their respective former and present representatives, agents, attorneys, heirs, administrators, successors and assigns, the Released Parties from all claims for PAGA penalties that were alleged, or reasonably could have been alleged, based on the PAGA Period facts stated in the Operative Complaint and the PAGA Notice and ascertained in the course of the Action including all statutes referenced in the Operative Complaint and the PAGA Notice and corresponding provisions of the California Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders and the California Code of Regulations and labor code sections 201, 201.3, 201.5, 202, 203, 204, 210, 218.5, 218.6, 226(a), 226.7, 226.8, 510, 512, 515, 558, 558.1, 1174 , 1194, 1194.2, 1197, 1198, 2802 and 2810.3.

4. HOW WILL THE ADMINISTRATOR CALCULATE MY PAYMENT?

• Individual Class Payments. The Administrator will calculate Individual Class Payments by (a) dividing the Net Settlement Amount by the number of Participating Class Members.
• Individual PAGA Payments. The Administrator will calculate Individual PAGA Payments by (a) dividing $5,000 by the total number of individual Aggrieved Employees.

• PAGA Pay Period Challenges. You have until November 8, 2024 to challenge whether or not you are an Aggrieved Employee. You can submit your challenge by signing and sending a letter to the Administrator via mail, email, or fax. Section 9 of the Notice has the Administrator’s contact information.

  You need to support your challenge by sending copies of pay stubs or other records. The Administrator will accept Defendants’ analysis based on ASD’s records as accurate unless you send copies of records containing contrary information. You should send copies rather than originals because the documents will not be returned to you. The Administrator will resolve PAGA Pay Period challenges based on your submission and on input from Class Counsel (who will advocate on behalf of Participating Class Members) and Defendants’ Counsel. The Administrator’s decision is final. You can’t appeal or otherwise challenge its final decision.

5. HOW WILL I GET PAID?

• Participating Class Members. The Administrator will send, by U.S. mail, a single check to every Participating Class Member (i.e., every Class Member who doesn’t opt-out) including those who also qualify as Aggrieved Employees. The single check will combine the Individual Class Payment and the Individual PAGA Payment.
• Non-Participating Class Members. The Administrator will send, by U.S. mail, a single Individual PAGA Payment check to every Aggrieved Employee who opts out of the Class Settlement (i.e., every Non-Participating Class Member).

6. HOW DO I OPT-OUT OF THE CLASS SETTLEMENT?

Submit a written and signed letter with your name, present address, telephone number and a simple statement that you do not want to participate in the Settlement. The Administrator will exclude you based on any writing communicating your request be excluded. Be sure to personally sign your request, identify the Action as Halvorsen v. Arts and Sciences Department, LLC, and include your identifying information (full name, address, telephone number, approximate dates of employment and social security number for verification purposes). You must make the request yourself. If someone else makes the request for you, it will not be valid. The Administrator must be sent your request, to the information below, to be excluded by November 8, 2024, or it will be invalid.

Halvorsen v Arts and Sciences
c/o Simpluris
PO Box 26170
Santa Ana, CA 92799
Email Address: info@ASDSettlement.com
Fax Number: (714) 917-7455

7. HOW DO I OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT?

Only Participating Class Members have the right to object to the Settlement. Before deciding whether to object, you may wish to see what Plaintiffs and Defendants are asking the Court to approve. At least 16 court days before the Final Approval Hearing, Class Counsel and/or Plaintiff will file in Court (1) a Motion for Final Approval that includes, among other things, the reasons why the proposed Settlement is fair, and (2) a Motion for Fees, Litigation Expenses and Service Award stating (i) the amount Class Counsel is requesting for attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses; and (ii) the amounts Plaintiffs are requesting for Class Representative Service Awards. Upon reasonable request, Class Counsel (whose contact information is listed here) will send you copies of these documents at no cost to you. You can also view them on the Administrator’s Website by clicking here or the Court’s website http://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/index.aspx.

A Participating Class Member who disagrees with any aspect of the Agreement, the Motion for Final Approval and/or Motion for Fees, Litigation Expenses and Service Award may wish to object, for example, that the proposed Settlement is unfair, or that the amounts requested by Class Counsel or Plaintiffs are too high or too low. The deadline for sending written objections to the Administrator is November 8, 2024. Be sure to tell the Administrator, at the information below, what you object to, why you object and any facts that support your objection. Make sure you identify the Action, Halvorsen v. Arts and Sciences Department, LLC, and include your name, current address, telephone number and approximate dates of employment for ASD and sign the objection.

Halvorsen v Arts and Sciences
c/o Simpluris
PO Box 26170
Santa Ana, CA 92799
Email Address: info@ASDSettlement.com
Fax Number: (714) 917-7455

Alternatively, a Participating Class Member can object (or personally retain a lawyer to object at your own cost) by attending the Final Approval Hearing. You (or your attorney) should be ready to tell the Court what you object to, why you object, and any facts that support your objection. See FAQ 8 for specifics regarding the Final Approval Hearing.

8. CAN I ATTEND THE FINAL APPROVAL HEARING?

You can, but don’t have to, attend the Final Approval Hearing on at (time) in Department 11 of the Los Angeles Superior Court, located at 312 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. At the Hearing, the judge will decide whether to grant Final Approval of the Settlement and how much of the Gross Settlement will be paid to Class Counsel, Plaintiff, and the Administrator. The Court will invite comments from objectors, Class Counsel and Defense Counsel before making a decision. You can attend (or hire a lawyer to attend) either personally or virtually via LACourtConnect (https://www.lacourt.org/lacc/). Check the Court’s website for the most current information.

It’s possible the Court will reschedule the Final Approval Hearing. You should check this website beforehand or contact Class Counsel to verify the date and time of the Final Approval Hearing.

9. HOW CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

The Agreement sets forth everything Defendants and Plaintiffs have promised to do under the proposed Settlement. The easiest way to read the Agreement, the Judgment or any other Settlement documents is by clicking here.

You can also telephone or send an email to Class Counsel or the Administrator or consult the Superior Court website by going to (http://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/index.aspx) and entering the Case Number for the Action, Case No. 22STCV33257. You can also make an appointment to personally review court documents in the Clerk’s Office at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse by calling (213) 830-0800.

DO NOT TELEPHONE THE SUPERIOR COURT TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT.

10. WHAT IF LOSE MY SETTLEMENT CHECK?

If you lose or misplace your settlement check before cashing it, the Administrator will replace it as long as you request a replacement before the void date on the face of the original check. If you don’t cash it by the void date, your check will be automatically cancelled, and the monies will be distributed to other Class Members who did cash their Individual Class Payment. Any such Class Member who cashes their initial Individual Class Payment but who failed to cash the second check by the second void date will have the amount of the second check deposited with the California Controller’s Unclaimed Property Fund in their name.

11. WHAT IF I CHANGE MY ADDRESS?

To receive your check, you should immediately notify the Administrator if you move or otherwise change your mailing address.