Salvatore Gallucci v. Henry Gonzales

MEMORANDUM

Objector Henry Gonzales appeals from the district court’s order approving a class settlement (Settlement) with Boiron, Inc. and awarding fees and expenses to class counsel. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

1. The district court did not clearly abuse its discretion in concluding that the Settlement — which created a fund from which class members could receive refunds for their purchases of Boiron’s allegedly mislabeled products and provided injunctive relief in the form of label modifications — was fair, reasonable, and adequate. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e); In re Bluetooth Headset Prods. Liab. Litig., 654 F.3d 935, 940 (9th Cir.2011).

Because the class was certified for purposes of settlement only, the district court was required to closely scrutinize the settlement “for evidence of collusion or other conflicts of interest.” In re Bluetooth, 654 F.3d at 946 . Both the district court’s final approval order and the transcript of the settlement approval hearing make clear that the court searched for signs of collusion — including the “subtle signs” of collusion explicitly mentioned in Bluetooth— and correctly found none. Id. at 947 . This…