Case Update
On December 14, 2021, the Court approved the $2 million settlement, including $5000 to each Named Plaintiff. Payments will be sent to class members shortly. The court’s order is here.
Original Post
On March 30, 2021, the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles granted a motion to preliminarily approve the proposed $2,000,000 settlement in Moore v. Department of State Hospitals, Case No. 19STCV16858. Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP, along with co-counsel from Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP, brought Moore on behalf of a class of all patients civilly committed to the Department of State Hospitals (“DSH”) who performed work for DSH and who DSH paid less than the relevant California minimum wage. As alleged in the complaint, DSH had a policy and practice of having patient-workers perform work for DSH—primarily, cleaning floors, tables, bathrooms, and showers—and paying them less than California minimum wage, often as little as $1 per hour. The settlement class includes all patient-workers who performed such work and were paid less than minimum wage during the time period from March 29, 2018 to June 27, 2019.
Class members have until June 15, 2021 to object to or opt out of the settlement or to challenge the calculation of their share of the settlement. Instructions for how to object, opt out, or challenge the share of the settlement are included in the notice of the settlement that was sent by the settlement administrator to all class members on April 15, 2021. A copy of the notice can be accessed here. The order granting preliminary approval of the settlement can be accessed here. A copy of the First Amended Complaint can be accessed here.
If class members have any questions about the settlement, they can contact RBGG at 415-433-6830 or by writing to Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP at PO Box 390, San Francisco, CA 94105.