The plaintiff, Alex Youssefi, sold Direct Energy products door-to-door on a Credico-brokered sales campaign. He filed this Action alleging that Direct Energy and Credico misclassified him, as well as other individuals who sold Direct Energy products door-to-door in Massachusetts on a Credico-brokered sales campaign, as independent contractors, and, as a result, failed to pay them certain wages and benefits in violation of certain Massachusetts wage laws, including G.L. c. 149, §§ 148, 148B and G.L. c. 151, §§ 1-1B. The plaintiff further claimed that Direct Energy and Credico breached a contract.
Direct Energy and Credico deny the allegations in the Lawsuit, deny any and all wrongdoing, and maintain that they complied with all applicable statutes and laws. Direct Energy and Credico further maintain that no contract ever was breached, they did not misclassify anyone, and that they had no obligation to pay benefits or any wage to the plaintiff or any putative class.
The Court has not determined the merits of the plaintiffs’ allegations or Direct Energy’s and/or Credico’s defenses in the Lawsuit and has not found that either Direct Energy or Credico violated any law.
The parties wish to resolve this matter on a class-wide basis to avoid protracted litigation and to fully and finally resolve and settle all claims relating to the allegations in the Lawsuit. The Proposed Settlement is a proposed resolution of those claims. It remains conditioned upon approval by the Court.
All individuals who sold Direct Energy products door-to-door in Massachusetts on a Credico-brokered sales campaign for all or part of the time period from July 1, 2015 and October 31, 2018, may participate in the Proposed Settlement.
There will be a settlement approval hearing on Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 2:00 pm at the Suffolk Superior Court, Courtroom 1015, located on the 10th floor of 3 Pemberton Square, Boston, MA 02108. At this hearing the Court will consider whether the Proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. If you would like to attend the settlement approval hearing, you are free to do so. You do not need to attend the settlement approval hearing in order to participate in the Settlement.
The total amount of the Proposed Settlement is $450,000. If the Court approves the Proposed Settlement, up to one-third of the total settlement amount ($148,500) will be used to pay attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by Class Counsel for bringing and prosecuting the Action. In addition, $5,000 will be paid as a service award to Mr. Youssefi for serving as the Class Representative and taking part in this case. A portion of the Proposed Settlement will also be paid to a third-party administrator, Atticus Administration (the “Administrator”) in exchange for its assistance in administering the Proposed Settlement.
Assuming the Proposed Settlement is approved by the Court, the remainder of the Proposed Settlement, after the foregoing payments are excluded, will be distributed on a pro rata basis to eligible Participating Class Members who timely submit Claim Forms, in accordance with a formula for estimating alleged minimum wage underpayments agreed to by the parties and approved by the Court.
That formula estimates the weekly minimum wage owed to each Participating Class Member using Direct Energy sales data to estimate the number of days worked each week. The formula offsets the estimated weekly minimum wage obligation using an estimate of commissions paid for each Participating Class Member’s actual sales in that week. In other words, the formula calculates an estimate of what you should have been paid in a week based on the number of days you worked and an estimate of what you were actually paid. This means that if a Participating Class Member hypothetically worked the same number of days in each of two weeks, but had more sales in first week and fewer sales in the second week, the estimated minimum wage underpayment in the first week would be less than in the second week. Similarly, if a Participating Class Member had the same number of sales in each of two weeks, but worked more days in the first week and fewer days in the second week, the estimated minimum wage underpayment would generally be greater in the first week than in the second week.
Participating Class Members with larger estimated alleged minimum wage underpayments will receive a greater share of the Net Settlement Fund. Each Participating Class Member who submits a timely Claim Form will receive at least $100 dollars. If there are any unused, residual funds remaining in the settlement account more than ninety (90) days after such distribution (i.e., from uncashed settlement checks), those funds will be donated to the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee.
You will not receive any Settlement Payment unless and until the Court approves the Proposed Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, the Administrator will issue your check within thirty-five (35) calendar days after all rights of appeal or review of the Court’s approval order have expired or any appeal or review has been resolved in favor of approval of the Settlement.
The Administrator will issue any Settlement Payments by check at the address listed on your Claim Form.
IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP THE ADMINISTRATOR INFORMED OF ANY CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR CHANGE OF NAME BETWEEN WHEN YOU RETURN YOUR CLAIM FORM AND WHEN ANY SETTLEMENT PAYMENTS ARE MADE.
Any Settlement Payment that you receive will be reported to the IRS as non-wage income on an IRS Form 1099, at the end of the tax year, and no taxes will be withheld.
You will be responsible for paying all required taxes on any Settlement Payment and any questions you may have should be directed to a tax professional. Settlement Class Counsel cannot provide you with tax advice with respect to any Settlement Payments, nor can the Administrator, nor can Direct Energy, Credico, or their counsel.
To view a copy of the relevant settlement documents or other case documents, you may find them on the Settlement Documents page, or direct them to either Settlement Class Counsel (using the contact information in above) or the Administrator at:
Direct Energy Settlement
c/o Atticus Administration LLC
PO Box 64053
Saint Paul, MN 55164
Phone: 1-888-221-3228
Fax: 1-888-326-6411
Email: DirectEnergySettlement@atticusadmin.com
PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE OR CONTACT THE COURT, ANY COURT PERSONNEL, OR DIRECT ENERGY’S OR CREDICO’S COUNSEL ABOUT THIS CASE OR THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT. THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO HELP YOU.