Coleman v. Railworks Corporation

Background

The order concerns Plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of a class-action settlement and their motions for attorneys’ fees, costs, litigation expenses, and incentive payments. The settlement class covered individuals who were citizens or residents of the United States and who were either RailWorks employees, former employees, beneficiaries or dependents of an employee or former employee, or RailWorks vendors who received an Internal Revenue Service Form 1099, provided that their personal information was affected by the security incident according to RailWorks’ records.

Class Certification and Notice

For settlement purposes only, the court certified the action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It found that the class was sufficiently numerous, that common legal or factual questions existed, that the named plaintiffs’ claims were typical, and that the plaintiffs and their counsel could adequately protect the class’s interests. The court also found that common questions predominated and that a class action was superior to other methods of resolving the controversy.

The court appointed Cornelius Coleman and Linda Horan as class representatives, appointed Finkelstein, Blankinship, Frei-Pearson & Garber, LLP and Thomas & Solomon LLP as class counsel, and appointed Epiq Class Action & Claim Solutions, Inc. as settlement administrator. It found that the electronic-mail, postcard, reminder, long-form, claim-form, and website notice procedures complied with Rule 23 and due-process requirements. Class members who properly opted out were listed in Exhibit A and would not be bound by the settlement. The court also stated that the parties complied with the notice requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act and that no notified federal or state agency objected.

Settlement Approval

After a final approval hearing on May 13, 2021, the court found that the settlement resulted from informed, good-faith, arm’s-length negotiations assisted by an experienced mediator. It considered the complexity, expense, delay, litigation risks, proposed benefits, equal treatment of class members, claims-processing method, separate payment of attorneys’ fees, and the settlement’s reception by the class. The court concluded that the settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate and approved the settlement, the release, and the other settlement terms.

The judgment required the parties to perform under the settlement agreement. It provided that covered claims were released and permanently barred class members from pursuing those released claims against the released parties. If the settlement’s effective date did not occur, the settlement-class certification would be vacated and the parties would return to the litigation’s status as of January 4, 2021, without prejudice to positions they could have asserted had the settlement not been reached.

Disposition

Judge George B. Daniels ordered that the action be dismissed with prejudice. The parties were to bear their own attorneys’ fees and costs except as otherwise provided in the settlement agreement and judgment. The court overruled all objections and reserved jurisdiction over implementation and enforcement of the settlement and judgment.

The court granted the motion for attorneys’ fees and costs and ordered Defendants to pay class counsel $493,000 in attorneys’ fees, costs, and litigation expenses, separately from the class settlement payments. The court also granted the request for incentive payments and ordered Defendants to pay Cornelius Coleman and Linda Horan $5,000 each, separately from the settlement consideration. The judgment stated that it was final and appealable.