Warsame v. Metropolitan Transportation Network, Inc.

Background

Noridin Warsame filed claims against Metropolitan Transportation Network, Inc. under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act and the Minnesota Payment of Wages Act. The proposed settlement group consisted of 625 school bus drivers for whom Warsame alleged damages based on Metropolitan’s payroll data. The motion before the court was unopposed and sought class certification, conditional certification of a federal wage collective action, and preliminary approval of a settlement.

Settlement-only certification

The court granted the motion. For purposes of settlement only, it certified a Minnesota Rule 23 class covering all people who worked as school bus drivers for Metropolitan at any time from June 5, 2017, through July 7, 2021. The court found that the 625 people met the class-action requirements of numerosity, common legal questions, typical claims, and adequate representation. It also found that common questions predominated and that resolving them through a class settlement was preferable to 625 individual cases. The court certified Warsame as the class representative and appointed Michele R. Fisher, Kayla M. Kienzle, and Nichols Kaster, PLLP, as class counsel.

The court also certified the same 625 people as a federal Fair Labor Standards Act collective action for unpaid overtime, again only for settlement purposes. It found a reasonable basis for the claim that the collective members were affected by a single policy or plan, that their factual and workplace circumstances shared sufficient common features, and that a collective action was efficient, effective, and fair.

If the settlement does not become effective, the order states that the settlement-only class and collective certifications will be vacated and the parties will return to their prior positions. The order also states that the certifications do not constitute an admission, concession, or presumption by either side.

Preliminary settlement approval and notice

After reviewing the proposed settlement’s distribution and value, notice and payment procedures, anticipated recovery, attorney’s fees and costs, and proposed service award, the court preliminarily found the settlement fair, reasonable, and adequate. This was preliminary approval, not final approval. The court scheduled a final approval hearing for February 7, 2022, to consider final approval, the effect of the settlement release on people who cash their checks, and proposed fees, costs, administration expenses, and the class-representative award.

The court approved notice by United States mail and text message. Metropolitan was ordered to provide the settlement administrator with the class list within five days of the order. The administrator was to mail notice within seven days after receiving the list and send text-message notice within fourteen days after receiving it. People who did not want to be included generally could opt out by declining to cash their settlement checks, while objections and requests for exclusion had to follow the procedures and 60-day deadline described in the notice.

The parties were also directed to address notice required by the Class Action Fairness Act and to file final settlement-approval papers. The order states that, after the 90-day check-cashing period, the parties would file stipulations of dismissal with prejudice for people who timely cashed their checks and without prejudice for those who did not.