The lawsuit alleges that Defendants VXL Enterprises, LLC and Matthew Crouse (“Defendants”) failed to pay Settlement Class Members overtime compensation during the Class Period, including because they are alleged to have been misclassified as independent contractors.

Defendants vigorously deny and continue to dispute all of the claims and contentions alleged in the lawsuit, and deny any and all allegations of wrongdoing, fault, liability, or damage of any kind. Defendants also contend that, absent a settlement, class certification should be denied.

The Settlement Agreement, and other settlement-related documents are posted here. The Settlement, if approved, resolves the lawsuit. The Court has not decided whether Plaintiffs’ allegations or Defendants’ defenses have any merit.

The Defendants have agreed to pay a Gross Settlement Amount of $1,200,000 which will cover: (1) payments to Settlement Class Members (called “Individual Settlement Awards”); (2) payment to Plaintiff Leslie Avant for his individual breach of contract claim; (3) any Class Representative Enhancement Payments to Plaintiffs Leslie Avant, Johnnye Duff, and Janelle Hernandez Avitia that are approved by the Court; (4) any Attorneys’ Fees and Costs to Class Counsel that are approved by the Court; and (5) any Settlement Administration Costs for the settlement administration. The portion of the Gross Settlement Amount available to pay Individual Settlement Awards to (i) Named Plaintiffs; (ii) all California Class Members who do not opt out of the Settlement; and (iii) all California State Prison Sub Class Members (collectively, “Settlement Class Members”) after subtracting items (2)-(5) listed above is referred to as the Net Settlement Amount.

If you are a Settlement Class Member who does nothing, you will receive monetary payment after this Settlement receives final court approval and the settlement becomes effective. The Settlement will be paid in three distributions over approximately three years.

The amount that you will receive as payment under the Settlement is called your “Individual Settlement Award.” All Settlement Class Members will receive a pro rata share of the Net Settlement Amount based on the total number of overtime hours each Settlement Class Member worked based on Defendants’ records during the relevant time period. Settlement Class Members shall receive a pro rata portion of the Net Settlement Amount as follows:

1. For each overtime hour (i.e., hours worked over 8 hours a day) worked at Lompoc, a federal facility during the Relevant Time Period, each Settlement Class Member shall receive one (1) settlement share.
2. To reflect the increased value of the legal protections offered to those Settlement Class Members who worked at California state prisons, including San Quentin, overtime hours (i.e., hours worked over 8 hours a day) during which work was performed at San Quentin or other California state prisons will be equal to one-and-a quarter (1 ¼ ) settlement shares.
3. The total number of settlement shares for all Settlement Class Members will be added together and the resulting sum will be divided into the Net Settlement Amount to reach a per share dollar figure. That figure will then be multiplied by each Settlement Class Member’s number of settlement shares to determine the Settlement Class Member’s Settlement Award.

The number of overtime hours and your estimated amount of your payment is stated above. If you dispute the number of overtime hours you may dispute the data (see What if I disagree with the data on my Notice?).

Settlement Class Members who do not request to exclude themselves from the Settlement will first receive their Individual Settlement Awards only after the Court grants final approval to the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved (see “The Court’s Final Approval/Settlement Fairness Hearing,” below). If there are appeals, resolving them can take time. It is estimated that these payments will begin within six months if there are no appeals. You will have 180 days from issuance to cash any checks you receive.

It is your responsibility to keep a current address on file with the Settlement Administrator to ensure receipt of your monetary Settlement Award. If you fail to keep your address current, you may not receive all of your checks.

Tax Treatment of Awards: All settlement payments to the Settlement Class Members shall be paid via IRS Form 1099s, except for those Settlement Class Members who were characterized during the Relevant Time Period only as W2 employees. For these individuals, 50% of their settlement payment shall be characterized as wages and recorded via W2 and 50% shall be characterized as a Form 1099 payment, and VXL shall provide the payroll checks for these individuals (and shall be reimbursed from the Gross Settlement Amount for these amounts). You will be responsible for correctly reporting this for tax purposes and for paying any taxes on the amounts received. You will be responsible for the tax obligations and consequences of all payments received from the Settlement. None of the Parties or attorneys makes any representations concerning the tax consequences of this Settlement or your participation in it. Settlement Class Members should consult with their own tax advisors concerning the tax consequences of the Settlement.

You have the opportunity to dispute the data set forth on the first page of this Notice, including the number of hours used to calculate your settlement payment, if you believe the data is incorrect. You may produce evidence to the Settlement Administrator establishing the hours you contend to have worked for Defendants. To do so, send a letter to the Settlement Administrator at VXL Class Action Settlement, P.O. Box 2002, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2002 explaining the basis for your dispute and attach copies of the supporting evidence. Unless you present convincing evidence proving you worked more hours than shown by VXL’s records, your Settlement Award will be determined based on VXL’s records. To dispute the data on this Notice, you must send a letter, signed under penalty of perjury, to the Settlement Administrator disputing the data on this Notice and providing any supporting documentation you have. To be valid, the dispute must be submitted (postmarked) by no later than November 7, 2023. The Settlement Administrator’s determination will be final and binding.

(1) Do nothing.

You will receive a payment from the Settlement. No action is required for you to receive a share of the Settlement.

(2) Exclude yourself.

If you do not want to receive any benefits from the Settlement, and you want to keep any right you might have to sue the Defendants for the claims that are being released in this Settlement, then you must take steps to get out of the Settlement. This is called excluding yourself – or is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of the Class.

To exclude yourself from (or “opt out” of) the Settlement, you must send a signed letter by email, or U.S. mail to the Settlement Administrator including:

1. your full name;
2. address;
3. a clear statement communicating that you want to be excluded from the Settlement Class in Leslie Avant v. VXL Enterprises LLC and Matthew Crouse; Johnnye Duff, et al. v. VXL Enterprises LLC and Matthew Crouse or “VXL Class Action”)

You may also submit the letter here.

You must email or submit your Request for Exclusion by November 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PST or mail your exclusion request postmarked no later than November 7, 2023 to:

VXL Class Action Settlement
P.O. Box 2002
Chanhassen, MN 55317-2002
Email: info@VXLSettlement.com

If you send an opt-out by U.S. Mail, the date of the postmark on the return-mailing envelope will be the exclusive means used to determine whether a request for exclusion has been timely submitted.

You cannot ask to be excluded on the phone. You must use one of the methods identified above.

No opt-out request may be made on behalf of a group.

(3) Object to the Settlement.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can ask the Court to deny approval by filing an objection.  You can’t ask the Court to order a different settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the settlement. If the Court denies approval, no settlement payments will be sent out, and the lawsuit will continue. If this is what you want to happen, you should object.

Any objection to the proposed Settlement must be in writing. If you submit a timely written objection, you may, but are not required to, also appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your own attorney. If you appear through your own attorney, you are responsible for hiring and paying that attorney.

All written objections and supporting papers must (a) clearly identify the case name and number (Leslie Avant v. VXL Enterprises LLC and Matthew Crouse; Johnnye Duff, et al. v. VXL Enterprises LLC and Matthew Crouse, Case No. 4:21-cv-02016-YGR), (b) be submitted to the Court either by filing them electronically or in person at any location of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California or by mailing them to the Class Action Clerk, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612, and (c) be filed or postmarked on or before November 7, 2023.

Your objections must (i) contain your full name, signature and address; (ii) state all grounds for the objection; (iii) contain copies of any documents or authorities that you wish to submit in support of your position; (iv) state whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing; and (v) state whether the objection applies only to you, to a specific subset of the Class, or to the entire Class.

Upon payment of the entirety of the Gross Settlement Amount Fund has been paid by Defendants, all Settlement Class Members shall and hereby do release and discharge Matthew Crouse, VXL and all Releasees, finally, forever and with prejudice, from any and all state wage and hour claims, as well as all unpaid overtime allegations and causes of action asserted or that could have been asserted in Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Complaint based upon the facts asserted, for work performed by Settlement Class Members for VXL during the Relevant Time Period, including claims for liquidated or other damages, unpaid costs, restitution or other compensation or relief arising under state law, state wage law, state wage payment law, state minimum wage law, any other wage payment or wage and hour law, or state common law claims (including unjust enrichment or quantum meruit) that arose during the Relevant Time Period.

The Court has scheduled a Final Approval Hearing for January 23, 2024 at 3:00 pm., at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California at the Oakland Federal District Courthouse, 1301 Clay Street, Courtroom 1, Fourth Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, or conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic might require that the hearing be held remotely, so it is a good idea to check this website and /or the Court’s PACER system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov for updates.

The Court has approved the following attorneys to represent the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer instead, you may hire one at your own expense:

Daniel Feder, Bar No. 130867
daniel@dfederlaw.com
Law Offices of Daniel Feder
235 Montgomery Street Suite 1019
San Francisco, CA 94104
Telephone: (415) 391-9476

Eric Lechtzin, Bar No. 248958
elechtzin@edelson-law.com
EDELSON LECHTZIN LLP
411 S. State Street, Suite N-300
Newtown, PA 18940
Telephone: (215) 867-2399

This notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. For the precise terms and conditions of the Settlement, please see the Settlement Agreement available here, by contacting Class Counsel (see Who represents the class?), by accessing the Court docket in this case, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays. You may also write with questions to the Settlement Administrator at VXL Class Action Settlement, P.O. Box 2002, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2002, or call the toll-free number, 1-833-711-6612, or e-mail info@VXLSettlement.com.