If you received a Notice it is because you are a member of the Settlement Class. The Notice informed you of your rights and options in this settlement, for example, how you could object to the settlement or exclude yourself from the settlement. The Court approved this settlement and all Class Members were mailed a settlement payment and are bound by the release of claims and other terms of the settlement unless they excluded themselves from the settlement by following the instructions as described within the Notice.

This action involves a class of current and former non-exempt employees of Circle K stores in Colorado. The action seeks unpaid meal and rest break payments on behalf of these individuals. Circle K and its owners and managers deny any wrongdoing or liability. The settlement is an effort by both sides to avoid costly litigation. The Court has not decided who is right.

No. The Court has made no decision regarding the merits of Plaintiff’s allegations or Defendant’s defenses.

The Parties reached a settlement in an effort to avoid the risk, inconvenience and expense of further litigation. The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiff or Circle K.

Each Settlement Class Member who did not opt out of the settlement is deemed to fully release and discharge Circle K and its previous and present parents, and subsidiaries, from any and all claims and rights of any kind that they may have, (whether known or unknown, whether contingent or non-contingent, whether specifically asserted or not), accruing between March 30, 2016 and March 15, 2020 and based upon the alleged missed meal and rest breaks of current and former Colorado Circle K hourly convenience store employees under Colorado law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and any other local, state, and federal laws, including all wage and hour, common, tort, and contract laws, that were or could have been asserted based upon the alleged facts related to the wage claims in the Lawsuit, including, but not limited to, claims for attorney’s fees, penalties, interest, liquidated damages, and litigation costs (collectively "Released Claims").

The Released Claims do not include a release of any other rights you have or claims you may have as an employee or former employee of Circle K. The Released Claims are specifically limited to the claims set forth and addressed in this Settlement.

All individuals who worked as non-exempt store employees of Circle K Stores Inc. in Colorado between March 15, 2017 and March 15, 2020. If you received a Notice it is because you are a member of the Settlement Class.

The Gross Settlement Amount is $3,500,000. This is the maximum amount that Circle K is obligated to pay under the settlement. This amount consists of:

1. Up to $1,166,666.67 for attorney’s fees and litigation costs,
2. Reasonable attorney’s expenses incurred, estimated to be $14,000.00,
3. Up to $30,000 for the named plaintiff as a service award,
4. Settlement administration costs,
5. Compensation for Settlement Class Members who do not exclude themselves from the settlement, and
6. The employer portion of payroll taxes and withholdings.

If you were eligible for a settlement payment, the settlement administrator mailed your benefit directly to you. Your individual payment amount was allocated on a pro rata basis based on the total number of workweeks worked multiplied by your average number of hours worked per week as a non-exempt employee in a Colorado Circle K store between March 30, 2016 and March 15, 2020, as well as your average hourly rate of pay. 

Payment amounts were allocated on a pro rata basis based on the total number of workweeks worked multiplied by an employee’s average number of hours worked per week (also known as “Qualifying Hours”) as a non-exempt employee in a Colorado Circle K store between March 30, 2016 and March 15, 2020, as well as the employee’s average hourly rate of pay.

Fifty percent (50%) of your settlement amount will be allocated to back pay and this portion will be subject to withholding of federal, state, and local income and payroll taxes, as well as any other required withholdings such as garnishments. You will receive an IRS Form W-2 for this payment from the settlement fund, sent with your distribution. The remaining 50 percent (50%) of your settlement amount will be for non-wages (penalties/interest) and will not be subject to any payroll or income tax withholding. Only fifty percent (50%) of your settlement monies received as a result of this settlement will be taxed as wages. Taxes will not be withheld by Circle K from the remaining portion. You will receive an IRS Form 1099 for this second amount.

You are solely responsible for ensuring all taxes are paid based on your receipt of a settlement payment. Neither the Settlement Administrator, your attorneys nor Circle K’s attorneys can provide any advice about such tax payments. You should consult your tax advisor if you have questions about the tax consequences of your individual settlement payments.

The Court held a Final Approval Hearing February 23, 2022 to decide whether to finally approve the settlement. On June 21st, 2022, the Court entered an Order to finally approve the settlement. The settlement became effective on July 21st, 2022, and settlement payments were sent to Class Members on August 12, 2022. 

Section IV.E.1 of the Settlement Agreement notes that any funds remaining from the initial distributions uncashed awards will be used to send a second round of distributions to those Settlement Class Members who participated in the Settlement by cashing their initial checks. The second round of distributions were mailed March 15, 2024.

Section IV.E.1 of the Settlement Agreement notes that any funds remaining from the initial distributions uncashed awards will be used to send a second round of distributions to those Settlement Class Members who participated in the Settlement by cashing their initial checks. The second round of distributions were mailed March 15, 2024.

If you received a second check it is because it was issued to you as part of the resolution of the Suaverdez v Circle K Stores Settlement (Case No. 20-cv-01035-RM-NYW). You received this payment in addition to the initial benefit payment you previously received for this matter. This payment reflects additional funds awarded to you by the parties and outlined in section IV.E.1 of the Settlement Agreement. You did not need to do anything further to qualify for this payment. You should cash or deposit this check by its printed void date, which is 60 days from the date it was initially issued to you.

Initial checks in this matter were issued August 12, 2022, and became stale on February 8, 2023. We can no longer reissue checks for the first round of payments in this matter.

If you negotiated your initial settlement award, and were sent a second settlement check March 15, 2024, and have not received it or it has become lost or damaged, you can request your second check be reissued to you. 

Please send us a letter, requesting your award to be reissued and provide;

• your full address of record (what we have in our systems) in order to make sure we attribute your request to the correct record, and
• If your address has changed, please provide us with the full new mailing address, including any apartment numbers, the state and zip code.

Once we have all the required information, we will begin the process of stopping payment on your initial check issued March 15, 2024.

Once you have sent in your request, do not attempt to cash the initial check dated issued March 15, 2024, as it will likely have been stopped and will not clear, and you may suffer bank penalties from the rejected check. Requests will take approximately 2-3 weeks to process. You should receive the new check soon after that. Please note that all checks will become stale after 60 days, on May 14, 2024 and cannot be reissued after that.

If you are a Class Member you did not need to do anything in order to receive a settlement award. By doing nothing, you remain in the Settlement Class and you were issued a settlement payment. You are legally bound by all orders and judgments entered by the Court, and are not be able to sue Circle K in any lawsuit relating to pay for alleged meal and rest breaks before March 15, 2020.

If you believed the number of Qualifying Hours noted for you was incorrect, you were able to send a letter to the Settlement Administrator, postmarked on or before December 24, 2021, indicating what you believe to be the correct number of Qualifying Hours. You needed to also send any documents or other information that support your belief. The deadline to dispute your Qualifying Hours has now passed. 

Objecting means telling the Court that you do not like something about the settlement. You can object to the settlement only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object to the settlement because it no longer affects you.

You were able to exclude yourself from of the Settlement Class (also called “opting out”). If you excluded yourself, you received no benefits or payment, you did not give up any legal claims you may have against Circle K, and you are not be bound by any orders or judgments of the Court. To exclude yourself from the settlement, you needed send a letter stating that you want to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class.  To be valid, the letter must have been postmarked by December 24, 2021. This deadline has now passed.

You were able to object to the settlement. If you objected, you remain in the Settlement Class, receive a settlement payment, and are legally bound by all orders and judgments entered by the Court. To be valid, objections needed to be postmarked by December 24, 2021. This deadline has now passed. 

You should not contact the Court if you have questions about the Settlement or the Notice. Please direct any questions you may have, to the Settlement Administrator.

The Court has appointed the following attorneys (“Class Counsel”) to represent you and other Settlement Class Members:

Class Counsel represents you and others in the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

You do not need your own lawyer. The Court has appointed Class Counsel to represent you and other Settlement Class Members. You will not be required to pay Class Counsel from your settlement payment. These attorneys, who have been working on this lawsuit for over a year, will have been granted an award of $1,179,977.89 for their accumulated attorney’s fees and out-of-pocket expenses.

If you want your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense. If you do so, your lawyer must file an appearance in the action.

The Court held the fairness hearing at 10 AM Mountain Time, on February 23, 2022, in Courtroom A-702 of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado 80294-3589. On June 21st, 2022, the Court entered an Order finally approving the settlement.

The Notice is a summary of your legal rights. These documents and all other pleadings and records in this lawsuit may be examined at any time during regular business hours in the Clerk’s Office of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, 901 19th Street, Denver, Colorado 80294-3589. The Settlement Administrator can also provide you with a copy of the Settlement Agreement via mail upon request.

If for any reason you want your Settlement Award or future correspondence concerning this Action to be sent to a different address, you must supply your preferred address to the Settlement Administrator at:

Suaverdez v Circle K Stores Settlement Administrator
c/o JND Legal Administration
P.O. Box 91232
Seattle, WA 98111

Please include both your initial address (for verification purposes) as well as any contact details you would like to update.