1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 JENNA LLOYD and JAMIE Case No.: 17-cv-01280-BAS-RBB 11 PLEMONS, on behalf of themselves ORDER GRANTING JOINT and all others similarly situated, 12 MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF CY PRES DISTRIBUTION 13 Plaintiffs, v. (ECF No. 75) 14 NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, 15 Defendant. 16

17 Before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion for Approval of Cy Pres Distribution 18 (“Joint Motion”). (ECF No. 75.) For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS the 19 Joint Motion. 20 I. BACKGROUND 21 Plaintiffs filed this action alleging that Navy Federal improperly assessed and 22 collected Optional Overdraft Protection Fees (“OOPS Fees”) from Plaintiffs and a 23 putative class of Navy Federal accountholders on certain debit card transactions. (See 24 First Am. Compl., ECF No. 4.) The parties ultimately reached a settlement, which 25 establishes, in relevant part, that after two rounds of distribution, any remaining 26 settlement funds shall be distributed to the cy pres recipient. (Settlement Agreement ¶ 27 83(a)–(c), Ex. A to Mot. for Prelim. Approval, ECF No. 51-2.) The parties were tasked 28 with proposing a recipient that “work[ed] to promote financial literacy, including for 1 members of the military or veterans.” (Id ¶ 83(d).) The Court granted preliminary 2 approval of the settlement on October 22, 2018 and final approval on May 28, 2019. 3 (ECF Nos. 54, 70.) 4 In the instant Joint Motion, the parties seek the Court’s approval to distribute the 5 residual settlement funds to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (the “Society”). 6 (Joint Mot. at 1.) They state that, compliant with the Settlement Agreement, a first 7 distribution of settlement funds was either credited to the accounts of Settlement Class 8 Members who still maintained an account with Navy Federal, or checks were mailed to 9 former accountholders. (Id. at 2.) A second distribution was conducted in the same 10 manner one year later using the remaining funds. After these two distributions, 11 $171,509.22 remains in the settlement fund, which the parties seek to distribute to the 12 aforementioned cy pres beneficiary. (Id. at 3.) 13 II. LEGAL STANDARD 14 “[T]he ‘cy pres doctrine allows a court to distribute unclaimed or nondistributable 15 portions of a class action settlement fund to the ‘next best’ class of beneficiaries.’” Lane 16 v. Facebook, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 2012) (quoting Nachshin v. AOL, LLC, 17

(9th Cir. 2011)). “The district court’s review of a class action 18 settlement that calls for a cy pres remedy is not substantially different from that of any 19 other class-action settlement except that the court should not find the settlement fair, 20 adequate, and reasonable unless the cy pres remedy ‘account[s] for the nature of the 21 plaintiffs’ lawsuit, the objectives of the underlying statutes, and the interests of the silent 22 class members[.]”

(quoting Nachshin). “The court has ‘broad discretionary powers 23 in shaping’ a cy pres award.” In re Easysaver Rewards Litig.,

(9th 24 Cir. 2018), cert. denied sub nom. Perryman v. Romero,

(2019) (citing 25 Six (6) Mexican Workers v. Ariz. Citrus Growers,

(9th Cir. 1990)). 26 III. DISCUSSION 27 The Court finds the proposed cy pres remedy accounts for the nature of this 28 lawsuit. The claims in this action were breach of contract and conversion stemming 1 || from “the interpretation of consumer account documents and the accrual of fees when accounts are overdrawn.” (Joint Mot. at 3.) Thus, this case touches on financial 3 || literacy. The proposed cy pres recipient aligns with this interest. The Society works to 4|| provide military members and their families with information and counseling to 5 || improve their financial literacy. (/d. at 4.) 6 The Court also finds that the interests of silent class members would be advanced 7 || by distributing cy pres funds to the Society. By helping individuals better understand 8 || the financial system and obtain the personal skills necessary to take responsibility of 9 || their finances, the Society makes it more likely that class members and, more broadly, 10 || any consumers of Navy Federal will be familiar with consumer account documents, 11 || such as the one at issue in this case, and avoid the fees and penalties imposed on personal 12 || accounts outlined in these disclosures. IV. CONCLUSION 14 Having considered the parties’ Jomt Motion and finding the proposed cy pres 15 || beneficiary appropriate, the Court hereby GRANTS the Joint Motion. The Settlement 16 || Administrator is HEREBY ORDERED to distribute the remaining balance of the 17 || $171,509.22 in Settlement funds as a cy pres award to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief 18 || Society. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 / cal 21 || DATED: July 27, 2021 Cypilig _| Hohe sk 22 United States Daarict Jalge 23 24 25 26 27 28