Ortiz

I. BACKGROUND

24 Plaintiffs Azucena Ortiz, Gustavo Meza, and Dominga Espinoza filed this putative class 25 action on September 5, 2023, mostly alleging violations of California state labor laws. (ECF No. 26 1). They amended their complaint on August 14, 2024. (ECF No. 45). Plaintiffs sue five named Defendants: (1) Lucero Ag Services, Inc.; (2) Paragroup Farms, Inc.; (3) Ricardo Ulices Lucero- 28 Ambrosio; (4) 559 Ag Corp., and (5) Artemio Fidel Salazar Luna. The Lucero Defendants (Lucero Ag Services, Inc., and Ricardo Ulices Lucero-Ambrosio). filed an answer to the amended complaint and were represented by counsel for part of the case. (ECF No. 47). However, on November 15, 2024, the Court granted their counsel’s motion to withdraw from the case. (ECF Nos. 49, 61). In the order granting counsel permission to withdraw, 5 the Court instructed as follows: “Within 30 days from the entry of this order, Defendants Lucero 6 Ag Services, Inc., and Ricardo Ulices Lucero-Ambrosio shall file a notice with the Court advising 7 whether they intend to hire counsel, and if so, advising how long they need to do so.” (ECF No. 8 61). Although this order was sent to the last…