Employees of Kellogg Co. got preliminary approval of their settlement in their class action against the company for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Originally filed by Plaintiff Patricia Thomas in February 2013, the class was later certified in January 2014. In December 2017, Kellogg and the Plaintiffs entered a settlement of the claims in the case. Kellogg agreed to pay the 750 Plaintiffs a total of $16,750,000 in return for a release of the FLSA claims and attorneys’ fees and costs. The suit had alleged that the company failed to pay territory managers and retail store representatives premium time-and-a-half wages when they worked over the standard 40 hours a week.
Over the last 5 years, the case survived numerous dismissal bids by Kellogg. It went through extended discovery as well as mediation, which failed to result in a settlement. On the eve of trial, the parties agreed to settle. As reported by the Plaintiffs’ attorneys, notice has been sent to the plaintiffs and after the notice period, they will file a motion for final settlement approval, with a planned court hearing on May 18, 2018. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. If the Court grants final approval and there are no appeals, checks will be mailed no later than 47 days after the date on which the Court grants final approval.
A great win for plaintiffs and their attorneys, but it is a reminder of how long class actions can take to win. The huge delays can have a significant impact on law firms waiting for payment in order to pay their bills. That’s why many law firms use post-settlement funding to address the dips in their cashflow while they wait for settlement checks to come in.
Most funders will not fund a class action settlement before final approval of the settlement is received, but RapidFunds does fund settlements with preliminary approval. If you are interested in post-settlement legal funding for your class action cases, contact Sherry Foley, Esq. at sfoley@rapidfunds.com for a consultation.