Kruger v. Lely North America, Inc.

Background

The court was considering the plaintiffs' consent motion for approval of a class-action settlement. The court had approved the final settlement in a separate order. This order addressed Jared Kruger's request to modify the settlement by increasing his payment as a named plaintiff and class representative.

Kruger's Request

Before and during the final approval hearing, Kruger expressed concerns about the settlement process, the amount of the cash payout to class members, and his belief that he had been essential to the litigation and settlement. He stated that he was not seeking to opt out of or generally contest the settlement. He asked for a larger service award, which the opinion states was $50,000.

Court's Analysis

The court explained that courts have discretion to approve service awards for class representatives. It had not found authority allowing it to increase the payment in these circumstances. The court also said it would not be comfortable changing one part of a complex settlement without determining whether other representatives' payments should also be increased or what part of the settlement would fund the increase.

The court noted that Kruger's $50,000 service award was twice as high as any other class representative's award in this case and five times higher than some awards. It also stated that the award was much higher than the average service award and that the judge had never seen such a large award in the judge's prior class-action cases. The court did not suggest that the award had to be reduced.

Disposition

Judge Katherine Menendez respectfully declined Kruger's request to modify the settlement and increase his class-representative award.