Christian J. Gabroy and Kaine M. Messer were lead counsel on this case and prevailed in Class Action Lawsuit. This suit was on behalf of all hourly paid non-exempt persons employed by or formerly employed as security officers by Defendant Wynn Las Vegas, LLC at any time from October 14, 2012, through November 26, 2019. The settlement amount of $898,500.00 is to be divided among the members of the class.
In a case such as this, it is possible that, even though they prevailed in Class Action Lawsuit, for some class members to not claim all the money after the class action lawsuit is settled. This extra money can be used to make Cy pres Awards. These are awards made to local charities and non-profit organizations.
In general, cy pres are awarded in cases where:
- There is a remaining amount of money left in the fund, although all of the class members have been compensated. This could happen, for instance, if class members don’t cash their settlement checks.
- The fund’s size is insufficient to allow for distribution to the class members. This is often the case when the main purpose of the settlement was to force the defendant to cease illegal practices. For example, a false labeling case may result in each class member receiving a small amount of money in damages. This would make it difficult and impractical to send checks. In such cases, the settlement may require labeling changes or payment to a cy pres beneficiary. These payments may be large, reaching into the millions of dollars, but it is still not practical to distribute to class members who could also reach the millions.
One such non-profit sent Gabroy | Messer a thank you letter for helping their organization. This is from the Families for Effective Autism Treatment of Southern Nevada (FEAT) and reads as follows:
Dear Mr. Gabroy, Esq
On behalf of Families for Effective Autism Treatment of Southern Nevada (FEAT), thank you so much for your support of FEAT. Because of your support, FEAT was selected as one of the three (3) non-profits to benefit from the CyPres funds resulting from recent litigation. With this substantial contribution, FEAT will be able to continue to support the families of Southern Nevada faced with the challenges of raising children and young adults on the autism spectrum. Indeed, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown, fundraising efforts by many non-profits were greatly hampered, and thus your support was so very vital to FEAT’s ongoing efforts.
Thank you once again for your assistance and support!
With gratitude,
Jennifer Strobel
Executive Director
FEAT of Southern Nevada
702.368.3328
www.featsonv.org
Gabroy | Messer is proud to help support local non-orofits in their operations.