Plaintiffs’ Class Certification Motion in Sotelo v. MediaNews Group Denied as Perkins Coie Successfully Represents MediaNews Group

San Francisco, CA (November 19, 2010) – Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick issued a final order on November 5, 2010 that denied the plaintiffs’ request for class certification in Sotelo v. MediaNews Group (Case No. HG06287184). In denying certification, the court held that: (1) the proposed class was not ascertainable; (2) common facts and issues did not predominate in the litigation; and (3) the plaintiffs failed to propose a workable case management plan for moving the case forward as a class action. Perkins Coie represents MediaNews Group and California Newspapers Partnership in this matter and successfully defeated the class certification request.

“We are pleased that the court, based upon the evidence and legal arguments presented, denied class certification in this case,” said Sue Stott, the lead attorney and a partner at Perkins Coie. “This decision underscores the importance of California business enterprises challenging attempts to certify unmanageable class actions based on ‘worker misclassification,’ particularly those disputes involving independent contractors.”

On September 1, 2006, Cynthia Sotelo filed a putative class action lawsuit against MediaNews Group and affiliates alleging that independent contractors including distributors and their helpers, substitutes, and volunteers who deliver newspapers for 27 home delivery publications throughout California, were not independent contractors, but should be considered employees. MediaNews Group and the other entities named in the lawsuit believe that these individuals are independent contractors, as confirmed in their written or oral agreements.  

Plaintiffs filed their motion for class certification on May 7, 2010, proposing one class of individuals who deliver or help deliver newspapers and a “final pay” subclass of those who allegedly were not paid at the time of termination of their delivery contracts. If a putative class had been approved, the size was estimated to be substantially in excess of 5,000 members.