Peter Schuman v. Microchip Technology Incorporated

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 PETER SCHUMAN, et al., Case No. 16-cv-05544-HSG

Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING CLASS

CERTIFICATION

v. Re: Dkt. No. 107 MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED, et al., 11 Defendants. 12 Pending before the Court is the motion for class certification filed by Plaintiffs Peter Schuman and William Coplin. See Dkt. No. 107. The Court held a hearing on June 27, 2019. See Dkt. No. 113. For the reasons detailed below, the Court GRANTS the motion for class certification. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs filed this putative class action in September 2016, alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). See Dkt. No. 1. Plaintiffs allege that their former employer Atmel Corporation and Atmel’s merger partner Microchip Technology, Inc., which acquired Atmel in April 2016, failed to honor the terms of their employee severance agreements under the Atmel Corporation U.S. Severance Guarantee Benefit Program (the “Atmel Plan”). See Dkt. No.…