NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF COLLECTIVE ACTION LAWSUIT
(THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT FROM A LAWYER)
If you are or were a Field Service Engineer at Venus Concept USA Inc. at any time since July 23, 2021, please read this Notice.
• Plaintiffs Paul Keller and Lorenzo Herring (“Plaintiffs”), former Venus Concept USA Inc. (“Venus”) Field Service Engineers (“FSE”), have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Venus titled Keller v. Venus Concept USA Inc., Case No. 0:24-CV-60657, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (the “Court”), claiming that they and other FSEs should have been paid overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a week, including certain travel hours for time spent traveling to and from work sites away from the worker’s home area that cut across regular working hours. The lawsuit claims that FSEs’ primary job duties include non-exempt manual and installation/implementation work onsite at client locations. As a result, Plaintiffs claim they, and other FSEs who worked for Venus, are entitled to overtime pay, even though they were paid a salary.
• Venus denies that it has done anything wrong and intends to defend itself against this lawsuit. In particular, Venus maintains that FSEs were correctly classified as exempt from the federal law requiring overtime compensation.
• The Court has allowed this Notice to be sent by the notice Administrator (“Administrator”) under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) to all persons who are or were employed as FSEs for Venus at any time from July 23, 2021 to the present.
• Although the Court has authorized this Notice, it has expressed no opinion as to whether Venus has complied with federal law or whether any FSE is entitled to money or other relief.
• Your legal right to participate in the lawsuit is subject to the choice that you must now make.
• You are allowed to join this lawsuit even if you met with or were interviewed by Venus’s personnel or their attorneys about overtime or the claims at issue in this case, or if you signed any statement regarding overtime or the claims at issue in this case, or if you signed any agreement purportedly waiving your right to participate in a collective action in court regarding such claims subject to further order of the court.
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS LAWSUIT
JOIN THE LAWSUIT
If you would like to participate in this case and share in a monetary recovery, if any, that might come from a judgment or a settlement in this lawsuit, you must fully complete, sign and timely submit a Consent to Join Form no later than October 12, 2024, to Plaintiffs’ Lawyers listed below.
You may sign and submit the Consent to Join Form in the following ways:
(1) You may electronically sign and return the “Consent to Join” form via the following hyperlink: https://signnow.com/s/LqTG8lGM, and submitted no later than October 12, 2024, or
(2) You can complete the form included with this Notice mailing and mail it in the enclosed addressed, postage paid envelope so that it is postmarked no later than October 12, 2024, or
(3) You complete and send the enclosed form by fax to 404-796-7338, or email it to [email protected] so that Plaintiffs’ Lawyers receive it no later than October 12, 2024.
Submitting the Consent to Join Form does not guarantee that you will ultimately be a participant in this lawsuit if the Court at a later date determines your claims cannot proceed for any reason.
NOT JOIN THE LAWSUIT
By doing nothing, you will not join the lawsuit, and you give up the possibility of a monetary recovery that may come from a trial or settlement of the FLSA claims if those bringing the lawsuit are successful. You would not be bound by any judgment. You will, however, have the right to bring your own claims. If you do not join, the statute of limitations on your claim will continue to run and you may lose some or all of your rights if you do not act.
I. Why did I get this Notice?
You are receiving this Notice because you worked in the FSE position within the time period according to Venus’s records. This Notice is to tell you of the existence of the lawsuit and inform you of your rights regarding participation in the lawsuit. The choice to join or not to join this lawsuit is yours.
II. How to Join the Lawsuit & What Happens if I Do?
You can choose to join the lawsuit by completing and returning the “Consent to Join” form found at https://signnow.com/s/LqTG8lGM via any of the three methods described above by October 12, 2024.
Should you lose or misplace the enclosed Consent to Join form, please contact the Plaintiffs’ lawyers at 404-924-4151. If you have questions, you may contact any of the Plaintiffs’ lawyers listed below.
If you submit the enclosed Consent to Join Form by October 12, 2024, the lawyers listed below will represent you and work to obtain any unpaid overtime wages you may be owed on a contingency fee basis, unless you hire your own separate lawyer(s) to represent you and file an appearance in the lawsuit under a fee arrangement you negotiate with the separate lawyer(s). If you do not hire your own separate lawyer, you designate the named Plaintiffs as your representatives, and to the fullest extent possible, you designate the named Plaintiffs and their lawyers to make decisions on your behalf concerning the case, the method and manner of conducting the case, and all other matters pertaining to this lawsuit. Decisions made and agreements entered into by Plaintiffs relating to this lawsuit will bind you if you join the lawsuit.
The Court or a jury will determine your rights to any money. You will be bound by and share in any ruling, settlement or judgment in this lawsuit, whether it is favorable or unfavorable. Filing the Consent to Join Form does not guarantee that you will ultimately be a participant in this lawsuit or recover any amount if the Court at a later date determines your claims cannot proceed for any reason.
While the lawsuit is proceeding, you might be required to provide information or otherwise participate in the action such as responding to written discovery, producing documents, having your deposition taken (remotely from your home area, or at a location determined by the parties or the Court), and/or having to provide testimony at trial. Any trial or hearing will be conducted in the United States federal courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Plaintiffs are represented by the following lawyers (“Plaintiffs’ lawyers”):
C. Andrew Head
Bethany A. Hilbert
HEAD LAW FIRM, LLC
4422 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Chicago, IL 60640
Tel: (404) 924-4151
[email protected]
Andrew R. Frisch
MORGAN & MORGAN
8151 Peters Rd, Suite 4000
Plantation, FL 33324
III. Will My Participation Cost Me Anything? How Will the Lawyers Get Paid?
If you submit the Consent to Join form and unless you retain your own separate counsel appearing on your behalf in the lawsuit, the Plaintiffs’ lawyers listed above will represent you in the lawsuit. Under the contingency fee arrangement with Plaintiffs’ lawyers, Plaintiffs’ lawyers will only be paid if there is a monetary recovery through a settlement, judgment, or jury award in your favor. Plaintiff’s lawyers will advance court costs and expenses of litigation, the repayment of which is contingent on the outcome of the matter. This means if Plaintiffs do not prevail and there is no recovery from Venus, then you will not owe Plaintiffs’ lawyers any attorney’s fees or payment for costs and expenses of litigation, but if there is a recovery, our attorney’s fees and costs or expenses of litigation will be paid from any settlement obtained or money judgment entered in your favor. If there is no recovery, Plaintiffs’ lawyers will get nothing and you will owe them nothing.
If Venus prevails in this action, they may, in some limited circumstances, be entitled to recover their costs and fees from the Plaintiffs and any individual who joins the lawsuit.
IV. And if I do not join?
If you do not join, you will not be bound by any judgment issued or settlement approved by the Court in this case – whether it is favorable or unfavorable. You will not be entitled to share in any amounts that may be recovered in this lawsuit, but you will have the right to separately bring your own claims. If you do not join, the statute of limitations on your claim will continue to run and you may lose some or all of your rights if you do not act within the time for filing such claims under the law.
V. Will my participation affect my employment?
No. Federal law prohibits an employer from firing or in any way retaliating against you if you choose to join this lawsuit.
Additional information can be obtained from the Plaintiffs’ lawyers at the above addresses and telephone numbers. You may also learn more about the claims and defenses in the Complaint and Answer, and review those documents, here: Complaint, Answer. No inquiries concerning this case should be directed to Venus, or its managers, to the Court or to the Clerk of the Court.
This Notice has been authorized by the Court. It is not an expression by the Court of any opinion concerning the alleged claims. This Notice simply informs you of the pendency of this litigation and your rights to join, or not join, the lawsuit.