Solis v. Orthonet LLC

Background

Joanna Solis and Maura Lyons, former OrthoNet employees, sued OrthoNet LLC under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law. Solis worked as an Initial Review Employee from January 2015 to March 2016, and Lyons worked as an Initial Review Employee from January 2010 to February 2018. They alleged that OrthoNet incorrectly classified them as exempt salaried employees and therefore denied them overtime wages.

The parties conducted an investigation, exchanged documents, attended private mediation on January 13, 2020, and reached a settlement. The plaintiffs then filed an unopposed motion seeking preliminary approval of the settlement, conditional certification of two settlement classes, appointment of class counsel and a claims administrator, approval of the proposed notice, and scheduling of a final approval hearing.

Court’s Analysis

The court found probable cause to submit the proposed settlement to the class members and hold a full fairness hearing. It concluded that the settlement resulted from arm’s-length negotiations assisted by a neutral mediator, followed an investigation that included production of 3,000 pages of documents, and fell within the range of possible approval. The court also found that the releases were limited to wage-and-hour and related employee-benefit claims that were or could have been asserted in the amended complaint, rather than releasing unrelated claims.

The court conditionally certified two classes for settlement purposes. The proposed New York Labor Law class included 114 employees who worked as salaried OrthoCare Managers in New York between May 21, 2013, and May 21, 2019. The proposed FLSA collective class included 327 employees who worked as salaried OrthoCare Managers between August 28, 2016, and May 21, 2019, or who filed an FLSA consent form before January 13, 2020. For the New York class, the court found that the requirements of Rule 23—including sufficient size, common issues, typical claims, adequate representation, predominance, and superiority—were met. Because the plaintiffs met that higher standard, the court found that they also met the standard for provisional certification of the FLSA collective.

Order

Judge Vernon S. Broderick granted the plaintiffs’ unopposed motion. The court preliminarily approved the settlement, conditionally certified the two settlement classes, appointed Douglas M. Werman, Maureen A. Salas, Jack Siegel, and Travis Hedgpeth as class counsel, appointed A.B. Data, Ltd. as claims administrator, and approved the proposed class notice.

The order required OrthoNet to provide class-member information to the claims administrator within seven days and required the administrator to mail the notices within 21 days. New York class members would have 60 days after mailing to opt out or object. The court scheduled a telephonic final fairness hearing for August 6, 2021. The order stated that final approval and a final judgment would follow only if the court later granted a motion for final approval; this opinion itself did not grant final approval.