Paunovic v. OBI Seafoods LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 MARIJA PAUNOVIC and DUSAN CASE NO. C21-884 MJP PAUNOVIC, individually and on behalf 11 of all others similarly situated, ORDER ON SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING RE: COLLECTIVE 12 Plaintiffs, IDENTIFIERS 13 v. 14 OBI SEAFOODS LLC and OCEAN BEAUTY SEAFOODS LLC, Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Brief in Support of Production of Collective Members’ Telephone and Taxpayer Identification Numbers. (Dkt. No. 45.) Having reviewed the Brief and supporting materials and noting the absence of any opposition filed by Defendants, the Court GRANTS the request.

The Court’s Order on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Conditional Certification reserved ruling on Plaintiff’s request for the production of telephone numbers and full social security or alien registration numbers for the collective members. (See Dkt. No. 43 at 14.) The Court invited additional briefing on the question of whether this information was necessary, given the other information the Court ordered Defendants to produce. (Id.) In their supplemental brief, Plaintiffs ask the Court to order Defendants to produce the telephone numbers and the last four digits of social security or individual taxpayer identification numbers for all collective members. (Dkt.

5 No. 45.) Plaintiffs explain that this information provides a useful means of identifying and contacting collective members who might be otherwise difficult to reach. Plaintiffs intend to provide this information to a third-party administrator for the sole purpose of performing public records searches to locate and mail notice to prospective members who cannot be reached using the information Defendants have already been ordered to produce. (Brief at 2-3; Declaration of Jennifer Boschen ISO Brief ¶¶ 5-11 (Dkt. No. 46).) Defendants have not opposed this request.

11 The Court finds this request to be reasonable and a proper means of locating and providing notice to collective members. See Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc. v. Sperling, 493 U.S. 165, 170 (1989) (noting the importance of collective members receiving notice regarding the collective action).

14 The production of this information must be completed within 45 days of entry of this Order.

15 The Court further agrees with Plaintiffs that this information should be kept confidential and directs the parties to take reasonable steps to maintain the privacy of that information. The Court directs the Parties to consider filing a stipulated protective order that tracks the District’s Model Protective Order. See Local Rule 26(c). This would provide a mechanism to ensure the confidentiality of this information.

20 The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel.

21 Dated April 22, 2022.

A 23 Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge