Nen Thio v. Genji, LLC

Re: Dkt. No.

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT

Plaintiffs move for preliminary approval of the settlement of this putative class action and collective action. Because plaintiffs have made a sufficient showing for the purposes of preliminary approval, the Court grants their motion. The Court also conditionally certifies a class action and a collective action for purposes of the settlement and approves the proposed notice to the class.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Plaintiffs’ Allegations

Plaintiffs Nen Thio, Tju Tjin Liem, and Denny Wijaya are individuals who were employed by defendants Genji, Inc., Genji Retail Support, Inc., and/or Genji LLC (collectively, “Genji”). Dkt. No. 5-1 ¶ 1. Genji is a retail provider of sushi and Japanese cuisine. Id. ¶ 5. Genji sells its sushi and Japanese cuisine through supermarket sushi bars at Whole Foods Markets in the State of California and elsewhere throughout the country. Id. At the Whole Foods stores, Genji employs Sushi Chefs which are referred to by Genji as Sushi Team Members. Id. ¶ 15; Dkt. No. 38 ¶ 3. One of the Sushi Chefs also works in the capacity of an in-store “manager,” also referred to as Sushi Team Leader or Store Team…