Contract analysis

1. Granting preliminary approval of the Class Action Settlement Agreement and Release dated September 15, 2023 (the "Settlement Agreement"), a true and correct copy of which is attached as Exhibit 1 to the concurrently filed Declaration of Renata Vasquez in Support of Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement (the "Vasquez Declaration");

2. Provisionally certifying the Settlement Class, as defined in the Settlement Agreement, for settlement purposes only;

3. Appointing Plaintiffs Marisol Fuentes, Derek Halloran, and Yesenia Padilla as Class Representatives of the Settlement Class;

4. Appointing Castellano Byrne & Salas LLP as Lead Class Counsel and Veltrano Employment Law Group PC as PAGA Co-Counsel;

5. Approving the proposed Class Notice plan, including the Long Form Notice attached as Exhibit A to the Settlement Agreement, and the Summary/Postcard Notice attached as Exhibit B to the Settlement Agreement;

6. Appointing Meridian Settlement Services LLC as the Claims Administrator;

7. Setting the schedule for the notice period, opt-out and objection deadlines, and the Final Approval Hearing; and

8. Staying all proceedings in this action pending the Court's ruling on the motion for final approval of the settlement. This Motion is based upon this Notice of Motion; the accompanying Memorandum of Points and Authorities; the Declaration of Renata Vasquez, filed concurrently herewith, and the exhibits attached thereto; the Declaration of Marco Castellano in Support of Preliminary Approval, filed concurrently herew

I. INTRODUCTION After nearly one year of hard-fought litigation, extensive discovery, competing expert analyses, contested class certification proceedings, and two full-day mediation sessions before the Honorable Patricia Okoro (Ret.) of Westpark Dispute Resolution Inc., the parties in this employment class action and representative Private Attorneys General Act ("PAGA") matter have reached a comprehensive settlement

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY A detailed chronology of this litigation demonstrates that the settlement was reached only after thorough investigation, discovery, and adjudication of contested issues, providing both parties — and the Court — with the information necessary to evaluate the settlement's fairness. A. Pre-Suit Investigation and PAGA Notice Prior to filing suit, Plaintiffs' counsel conducted an extensive pre-litig

III. TERMS OF THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT The material terms of the Settlement Agreement are summarized below. The Court is respectfully referred to the Settlement Agreement itself for the complete terms and conditions. A. Settlement Class Definition The Settlement Agreement defines the "Settlement Class" as: "All current and former non-exempt, hourly employees of Aurelius Media Americas Inc. who worked in the State of C

1. Attorneys' Fees (Class Counsel) Class Counsel will apply for an award of attorneys' fees in the amount of 33.33% of the GSA, totaling $4,916,175. This fee application will be filed in connection with the Motion for Final Approval and will be supported by detailed lodestar and billing records. The requested percentage is consistent with the percentage typically approved in California wage-and-hour class action sett

2. Litigation Costs Reimbursement Class Counsel will apply for reimbursement of documented litigation costs in an amount not to exceed $412,300. These costs were incurred in connection with the prosecution of this action and include, among other things, expert fees (Dr. Rennick), e-discovery and document review costs (Marlowe Asset Management Litigation Technology Inc.), deposition transcript and videography costs, c

3. Class Representative Service Awards The parties have agreed to the following service awards for the named Class Representatives, in recognition of their substantial contributions to the prosecution of this action: • Marisol Fuentes: $15,000 • Derek Halloran: $10,000 • Yesenia Padilla: $10,000 • Total: $35,000 These service awards reflect the significant time and effort that each named Plaintiff devoted to this lit

4. Settlement Administration Costs The Settlement Agreement allocates $385,000 from the GSA for the costs of settlement administration, to be paid to Meridian Settlement Services LLC. This amount covers all costs associated with the administration of the settlement, including class member address verification and skip tracing, notice printing and mailing, creation and maintenance of the settlement website, operation

5. PAGA Payment The Settlement Agreement allocates $750,000 from the GSA for the resolution of PAGA claims. Pursuant to California Labor Code section 2699(i), this amount is apportioned as follows: • 75% to the LWDA: $562,500 • 25% to aggrieved employees: $187,500 The aggrieved employee portion of the PAGA payment ($187,500) will be distributed to all Settlement Class members who do not opt out, on a pro rata basis,

I. Opt-Out and Objection Procedures The Settlement Agreement provides Settlement Class members with meaningful opportunities to exclude themselves from the settlement or to voice objections: Opt-Out Procedure. Any Settlement Class member who wishes to exclude himself or herself from the settlement may do so by submitting a written request for exclusion to Meridian Settlement Services LLC, postmarked no later than the

IV. LEGAL STANDARD FOR PRELIMINARY APPROVAL California Rules of Court, Rule 3.769, governs the approval of class action settlements in California state courts. Rule 3.769(c) provides that any party to a class action settlement must file a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement. Upon receipt of such a motion, the Court must conduct a preliminary evaluation of the settlement to determine whether it is suffic

V. THE SETTLEMENT MERITS PRELIMINARY APPROVAL Application of the relevant factors demonstrates that the proposed settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable and falls well within the range of possible approval. A. The Settlement Was Reached Through Arm's-Length Negotiations Facilitated by an Experienced Mediator A presumption of fairness attaches to a class action settlement reached through arm's-length negotiations

1. Comparison to Plaintiffs' Claimed Exposure The GSA of $14,750,000 represents approximately 38.2% of Plaintiffs' expert's aggregate damages calculation of $38.6 million. In the experience of counsel and based on published surveys and reported decisions, California wage-and-hour class action settlements typically fall in the range of 15–40% of the plaintiff's claimed damages exposure. (See, e.g., 4 Newberg & Rubenst

2. Comparison to Defense Valuation AMA's rebuttal economics expert, Dr. Catherine Lindstrom of Hargrove Analytics Inc., valued the claims at approximately $5.8 million — less than 40% of the settlement amount. The GSA of $14,750,000 is more than two-and-a-half times the defense valuation. This disparity reflects the fact that the settlement was the product of genuine compromise, with both parties making meaningful co

3. Risks on Certified Claims Although this Court certified the first meal period auto-deduction claim, AMA maintained meritorious defenses that posed significant risks to Plaintiffs' recovery at trial. Under Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004, an employer's obligation with respect to meal periods is to provide the meal period — that is, to make it available and not impede or discourage

4. Risks on Non-Certified Claims This Court denied class certification for the rest period, off-the-clock/overtime, minimum wage, second meal period, and waiting time penalty claims, finding that individual issues predominated. While these claims were not certified, they remained available to individual class members. The settlement resolves all such claims through the broad release, providing AMA with comprehensive

5. PAGA Exposure Plaintiffs claimed $12.2 million in PAGA civil penalties based on Dr. Rennick's calculations. The PAGA component of $750,000 represents a 93.9% reduction from the claimed amount. While this reduction is substantial, it is consistent with the significant discretion that courts exercise in assessing PAGA penalties and the well-established principle that maximum statutory penalties are rarely awarded. U

6. Avoidance of Trial Costs and Delay If the case proceeded to trial, both sides would incur substantial additional litigation costs. The parties estimate that trial preparation and a jury trial on the certified claims would cost each side approximately $1.2 million to $1.8 million, including expert witness fees, trial graphics and demonstratives, jury consultant fees, and attorney time. The trial itself would likely

VI. PROVISIONAL CERTIFICATION OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS The parties request that the Court provisionally certify the Settlement Class for settlement purposes only. The Settlement Class is defined consistently with the class certified by this Court's August 11, 2023 Class Certification Order, with the class period end date fixed at October 31, 2023. Provisional certification for settlement purposes does not require the

VII. PROPOSED SCHEDULE The parties propose the following schedule for the notice period, opt-out and objection deadlines, and the Final Approval Hearing: The parties respectfully request that the Court set these dates or, alternatively, set dates that the Court deems appropriate in light of its calendar and the interests of the Settlement Class.

VIII. REQUEST TO STAY PROCEEDINGS The parties jointly request that all proceedings in this action be stayed pending the Final Approval Hearing and the Court's ruling on the Motion for Final Approval. A stay of proceedings is appropriate to conserve the resources of the Court and the parties while the settlement approval process is pending, and to avoid any prejudice that might result from continued litigation activit

IX. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the parties respectfully request that the Court enter the [Proposed] Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement, filed concurrently herewith, which:

1. Grants preliminary approval of the Class Action Settlement Agreement and Release, dated September 15, 2023;

2. Provisionally certifies the Settlement Class for settlement purposes only, defined as: "All current and former non-exempt, hourly employees of Aurelius Media Americas Inc. who worked in the State of California at any time from November 1, 2018 through October 31, 2023, who were subject to AMA's automatic meal period deduction in the NovaPay Solutions TimeTrack Pro timekeeping system";

3. Appoints Marisol Fuentes, Derek Halloran, and Yesenia Padilla as Class Representatives;

4. Appoints Castellano Byrne & Salas LLP as Lead Class Counsel and Veltrano Employment Law Group PC as PAGA Co-Counsel;

5. Approves the proposed Class Notice plan, including the Long Form Notice (Exhibit A to the Settlement Agreement) and the Summary/Postcard Notice (Exhibit B to the Settlement Agreement);

6. Appoints Meridian Settlement Services LLC as Claims Administrator;

7. Sets the notice period, opt-out and objection deadlines, and the date for the Final Approval Hearing consistent with the schedule p