Plaintiff?s motion for an order requiring an opt-out notice to be sent, approving a third party administrator and setting a date certain by which Genex must provide the names and addresses to the third party administrator for mailing is?denied.? The denial is without prejudice to either party seeking a?Belaire-West?notice in connection with discovery requests or responses in this matter and following a full ?meet and confer? process on the issue.
The motion is denied for the following reasons.? First, Plaintiff?s motion is premature as Plaintiff?s discovery requests are still outstanding.? Plaintiff?s motion relies upon?Williams v. Superior Court?(2017) 3 Cal.5th 531.? However,?Williams?involved a motion to compel discovery responses and nothing in?Williams?suggests that a?Belaire-West?notice may precede discovery.? To the contrary, the opinion acknowledges, at several points, that discovery is the proper vehicle for obtaining contact information of potential ?aggrieved? employees and recognizes that, during discovery, issues might be raised which could limit the discovery of contact information or impact the notice process.??Williams,?3 Cal.5th at 549-556.
Second, the?Williams?opinion was limited to discovery of contact information for potential witnesses/aggrieved employees.? Here, Plaintiff?s requested order also includes discovery of ?records of wages paid and hours worked.??As the court explained in?Williams, contact information is a ?first step to identifying other aggrieved employees and obtaining admissible evidence of the violations and policies alleged in the complaint??Williams,?3 Cal.5th at 543.? The?Williams?court, however, specifically noted that financial information?such as that addressed by Plaintiff?s motion?is more sensitive than contact information.??Williams,?3 Cal.5th at 544.
Third, Plaintiff?s proposed notice differs significantly from the notice approved in?Belaire-West, including, but not limited to, the references to civil penalties, the replacement of the phrase ?under no obligation? with ?not legally obligated,? the reference to a conflict of interest and the failure to provide contact information for defense counsel.
Defendant to give notice.