Swiger, et al. v. Utz Quality Foods

What is the case about?
On September 15, 2015, we filed Swiger, et al. v. Utz Quality Foods, No. 1:15-cv-2196 (M.D. Pennsylvania), a collective and class action alleging that Defendant improperly classified its route sales employees under the outside sales exemption and denied them overtime compensation.

What does the settlement provide?
The parties reached a settlement of the case and filed a Motion for Approval on April 3, 2017, which can be obtained here. Motion for Approval. On June 14, 2017, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement, and on September 12, 2017, the Court granted final approval of the settlement.

Utz's Settlement Payment of $2,500,000, after deductions, was divided proportionally into Individual Payments for which the Representative Plaintiffs, Existing Opt-In Party Plaintiffs, Eligible Settlement Participants, and Class Members were eligible to receive.

Is the settlement fair and reasonable?
Employees who participated in the Settlement received approximately 31.1% of their alleged overtime damages over the 3-year limitations period, and 46.6% of their alleged overtime damages over the 2-year limitations period, before deductions, assuming employees worked an average of 47.5 hours per week.

Am I part of the class?
The class consisted of 1,879 current and former route sales employees of Utz, including: a) the 474 Existing Opt-In Party Plaintiffs; b) the 588 Eligible FLSA Settlement Participants; c) the 140 Rule 23 Class Members from Maryland, d) the 177 Rule 23 Class Members from North Carolina; e) the 451 Rule 23 Class Members from Pennsylvania; and f) the 49 Rule 23 Class Members from New Jersey.

Who represents the class?
Representative Plaintiffs and the class were represented by Anthony J. Lazzaro and Chastity L. Christy of The Lazzaro Law Firm, LLC, Hans A. Nilges and Shannon M. Draher of Nilges Draher, LLC. They can be reached at 216-696-5000.

How do I get involved?
All class members received a notice that explained how to receive a payment.

Disclaimer
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