Contract analysis

I. Purpose This memorandum provides our detailed comments on the draft expert report prepared by Dr. Rajesh Makhija of Workforce Dynamics Consulting LLC, dated May 5, 2023, in connection with Aurelius Media Americas Inc.'s ("AMA") opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification. We have reviewed the draft report in its entirety, including all appendices and supporting data tables, and have cross-referenced t

II. Overall Assessment of Draft On the whole, the draft report is strong on its core thesis: that significant variability exists in working conditions, scheduling practices, meal and rest break implementation, and supervisory discretion across AMA's seven California production facilities and fourteen distinct show units, such that individualized inquiry predominates over common questions under the standards articulat

III. Section-by-Section Comments A. Section 1 — Introduction and Qualifications Dr. Makhija's qualifications are well-presented in the current draft. His curriculum vitae is attached as an exhibit, and his experience in labor and employment consulting for media and entertainment companies is highlighted appropriately. His prior expert engagements in wage-and-hour class actions, including engagements in Hernandez v. O

1. Working conditions, scheduling practices, and meal and rest break implementation vary significantly across AMA's fourteen show units and seven California production facilities. The statistical analysis of TimeTrack Pro data demonstrates that key variables — including shift-length distributions, overtime frequency, meal period timing, and missed meal period rates — differ across show units at levels that are statis

2. Supervisory discretion in break scheduling — exercised by fourteen different Unit Production Managers and Line Producers, each operating within a distinct show unit with its own production demands, physical environment, and operational constraints — renders a class-wide determination of whether AMA "provided" compliant meal and rest breaks infeasible. The break scheduling practices of each show unit reflect the in

3. The experiences of AMA's non-exempt employees with meal and rest breaks are "predominantly individualized" and "cannot be reliably generalized across the putative class." An employee's meal break experience depends on the specific show unit to which he or she was assigned, the supervisor responsible for scheduling, the production demands of any given day, the physical location of the work (studio versus field vers

4. The TimeTrack Pro auto-deduction system, while applied uniformly across all seven facilities and fourteen show units, does not create a common question susceptible to class-wide resolution. The auto-deduction is a timekeeping mechanism — it reflects how AMA's system recorded meal periods, not whether each employee was actually provided a compliant break. The substantive inquiry — whether each employee received a c

IV. Additional Data Analysis Recommendations In addition to the section-by-section comments set forth above, we recommend that Dr. Makhija conduct the following supplemental analyses for inclusion in the final report, to the extent the data permits and the timeline allows. Each of these analyses would further support the individualized inquiry thesis by demonstrating additional dimensions of variability within the pu

V. Anticipated Plaintiffs' Critiques and Preemptive Responses Based on our review of Plaintiffs' class certification motion papers, Dr. Rennick's report, and the general strategies employed by Plaintiffs' counsel at Bravo Gutierrez LLP in similar cases, we anticipate the following critiques of Dr. Makhija's report. We recommend that Dr. Makhija preemptively address each of these critiques in the final report, either

VI. Formatting and Presentation Recommendations In addition to the substantive comments above, we offer the following formatting and presentation recommendations for the final report: Executive Summary. We recommend that Dr. Makhija add an executive summary of one to two pages at the beginning of the report, immediately following the introduction and qualifications section. The executive summary should concisely stat

VII. Next Steps Based on the comments and recommendations set forth in this memorandum, we propose the following schedule for completing and finalizing Dr. Makhija's report: • May 14, 2023: Devon to schedule and conduct a call with Dr. Makhija to discuss the comments in this memorandum in detail. During this call, we should prioritize the most critical revisions (particularly Comments 8 and 11, addressing the auto-de