BAR DATE: NOVEMBER 15, 2017

THIS IS YOUR FINAL NOTICE REGARDING YOUR CHANCE TO RECOVER FUNDS IN THE PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO YOUR WAGE/HOUR CLAIMS AGAINST DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC.   IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE MONEY FROM DARDEN, YOU MUST SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM BY NOVEMBER 15, 2017.  PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY TO ENSURE YOUR CLAIM IS NOT LOST.                                               

You previously retained retain our law firms and/or one of the regional counsel firms working with us to represent you in your claim against Darden before the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”).  You became part of a group of approximately 4,000 people pursuing their claims against Darden.  At this time, we are pleased to report that approximately 2,150 people have settled or won their claims before arbitrators for a total of over $5.5 million, with settlement amounts ranging from $250 to more than $10,000, depending on the strength of the individual claim and the amount of damages incurred; another 550 people are moving through the process at this time.  Although we cannot make any promise as to how much you might recover, if anything, almost all of our clients have recovered money.

If you are reading this and have not yet completed an SOC form, in all likelihood we have made multiple efforts to contact you by mail, email, and telephone without success.  The process the AAA established is now winding down; the arbitrator appointed by the AAA to oversee this process has established November 15, 2017 as the last day for filing individualized claim forms.   If you have not yet submitted an SOC,  your claim filed in the AAA will be dismissed unless your claim form is submitted in time to meet the AAA’s November 15, 2017 deadline.  Any claims not filed by that date will be dismissed without prejudice.  This means that while you would not be able to submit claims through this AAA process, you would still be allowed to pursue your claims through other channels (if the claims are not barred by the statute of limitations), but our firms will not be able to represent you outside of this AAA process.

Filing each claim takes time and requires at least one phone interview with you to obtain all of the information required to file the claim followed by the preparation of the form, your review of that form, any corrections that need to be made, and its submission to Darden. As a result, you need to contact your attorney IMMEDIATELY AND NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 31, 2017 if you wish to pursue your claim. If you do not know who your assigned attorney is, you may contact one of the national counsel firms below, each of whom can provide that information.  If we do not hear from you immediately, we may not have sufficient time to do the necessary work to complete the claim form and pursue your claim.

The post Case Update September 27, 2017: DEADLINE RAPIDLY APPROACHING appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

We have submitted approximately 2,550 claim forms to Darden so far. After receiving these claim forms, Darden will respond with a settlement offer. If we or your Regional Counsel contacts you about an offer you have received from Darden, you need to respond to us or your Regional Counsel as soon as possible.  Each of you has the right to accept or reject any offer. If you reject Darden’s initial offer, you would move to Step 2 – mediation. Hundreds of claimants have mediated their claims successfully, resulting in settlements. Others have moved to the last step, arbitration, where the American Arbitration Association appoints an arbitrator to hear the claim. Several arbitrations have been tried since June, 2016, with more scheduled to occur over the next several months.

To date we have settled almost 1,900 of the 2,550 claims submitted to Darden at some point in the process, with the average settlement at approximately $2,550. Some settlements are higher than the average and some settlements are lower than the average. Past results do not indicate what your claim might be worth, since every claim depends on its own facts and you cannot depend on the average as a guide for your individual case. While you may achieve a better result proceeding through arbitration, some Claimants who have actually proceeded through arbitration have been awarded no money at all.

While we cannot guarantee how quickly your individual claims will progress, you can help speed up the process if you respond as soon as possible to our firms or your Regional Counsel when contacted with respect to submitting claim forms, settlement offers, mediation, and/or arbitration. If you do not respond to our firms or your Regional Counsel, you will not be able to settle your claim or obtain any money through this process. For those of you who fail to respond to repeated inquiries, we will at some point seek leave to be relieved as your counsel.

Finally, it is essential that we have your most recent mailing address, telephone number and email address. If you have moved or changed phone numbers or email addresses since our last communication with you, please contact our firms or your Regional Counsel, as appropriate, to update that information.

The post Case Update: July 17, 2017 appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

We have submitted approximately 975 claim forms to Darden so far.  After receiving these claim forms, Darden has made some settlement offers to claimants. Anyone receiving an offer has been or will be contacted by an attorney from our firms or your Regional Counsel.  If we or your Regional Counsel contacts you about an offer you have received from Darden, you need to respond to us or your Regional Counsel as soon as possible.  Each of you has the right to accept or reject any offer.  Some people have accepted Darden’s offers, some rejected Darden’s offers, and others have settled after some negotiation with Darden. To date we have settled more than 50 people’s claims with Darden paying each of those claimants money to settle their cases.  While some claimants have received settlement offers based upon their claim forms, others have not. For those claimants not receiving offers, those who reject Darden’s offers, or those who are not able to settle after initial negotiations with Darden, we have been proceeding to mediation.   We have several hundred matters scheduled for mediation, and some claimants who have already proceeded to mediation have settled.  For those matters not settling at mediation, we are proceeding to arbitration.  The first group of arbitrations have been filed and will be scheduled to occur over the next several months, probably in the early spring. While we cannot guarantee how quickly your individual claims will progress, you can help speed up the process if you respond to our firms or your Regional Counsel when contacted with respect to submitting claim forms, settlement offers, mediation, and/or arbitration as soon as possible.

The post Case Update: December 2, 2015 appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

We have submitted approximately 750 claim forms to Darden so far.  Darden has begun making some settlement offers with respect to some of those claims.  Anyone receiving an offer will be contacted by an attorney from our firms or your Regional Counsel.  Each of you has the right to accept or reject any offer.  Some people have accepted Darden’s offers, some have rejected Darden’s offers, and others have settled after some negotiation with Darden. For those people not receiving offers, those who reject Darden’s offers, or those who are not able to settle after negotiation with Darden, we will proceed to mediation. If your Regional Counsel contacts you about an offer you have received from Darden, you need to respond to your Regional Counsel with a reply as soon as possible.

The post Case Update: October 15, 2015 appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

As we move forward with this pre-mediation process, we are continuing to collect information regarding your claims.  If you have not been contacted yet, please remain patient. You may receive a call or an email in the coming weeks, either from an attorney from our firms or your Regional Counsel.  It is essential that you speak to the attorney who contacts you; we cannot submit a claim on your behalf without collecting your specific information. 

The post Case Update: September 1, 2015 appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

As we move forward with this pre-mediation process, we are continuing to collect information regarding your claims.  If you have not been contacted yet, please remain patient. You may receive a call or an email in the coming weeks, either from an attorney from our firms or your Regional Counsel.  It is essential that you speak to the attorney who contacts you; we cannot submit a claim on your behalf without collecting your specific information. 

The post Case Update: July 10, 2015 appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

Your lawyers will be initially submitting claims initially for the named plaintiffs and opt-in plaintiffs in groups of 200.  To complete a Statement of Claim form, we will need to speak to you to obtain the necessary information.  You may receive a call or an email in the coming weeks, either from an attorney from our firms or your Regional Counsel.  It is essential that you speak to the attorneys who contact you. Not all of you will be contacted at this time, however, so please be patient with the process.

Once we submit the Statements of Claim, Darden may make a monetary offer to us for your claim, and tell us the basis of that offer, providing certain information which it feels supports its position.  We will discuss any offer with you. You will have the right to accept or reject any offer, or ask for more documents and continue to negotiate the claim in this informal fashion if you wish to do so.  If at any time we and you feel Darden is not giving us the necessary documents to make an informed decision or is not making a reasonable offer, we can declare an impasse and proceed to mediation (which Darden pays for). If mediation does not resolve your claim, then we will proceed to arbitration (which Darden also pays for).

If you have any questions about any of this process, feel free to contact us or if applicabel, your regional counsel, whose contact information can be located by clicking here.

The post Case Update: May 10, 2015 appeared first on Darden Lawsuit.

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