COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

SUPERIOR COURT DEPARTMENT

Suffolk, SS.                                                     Civil Action No. 2284CV00450-BLS1

Darrin Duty, on behalf of himself

and all other employees similarly situated,

                                Plaintiff,

            v.

Thielsch Engineering, Inc. d/b/a RISE

Engineering and Brian Kearney,

                                 Defendants.

NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

If you worked in Massachusetts as a Residential Energy Specialist for RISE Engineering for all or part of the time period between June 1, 2018 and May 7, 2025, a proposed Class Action Settlement may affect your rights.

A court authorized this notice.  This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

Please read this notice carefully.  Your legal rights may be affected, even if you do nothing.

1. What is this document?

This is a notice that describes a proposed settlement (the “Proposed Settlement”) of the class action lawsuit called Darrin Duty v. Thielsch Engineering, Inc. d/b/a RISE Engineering and Brian Kearney., Civ. No. 2284CV00450-BLS1 (the “Lawsuit”), which is currently pending in the Massachusetts Superior Court for Suffolk County (the “Court”). The Court has authorized us to send you this notice.

2. Why am I receiving this notice?

You have received this notice because records maintained by RISE Engineering (“RISE”) indicate that you worked in Massachusetts as a Residential Energy Specialist during the relevant time period, which means you may be eligible to recover money as part of the Proposed Settlement and that your legal rights may be affected. This notice is intended to inform you about the Proposed Settlement so that you can make an informed decision about whether to participate in the Proposed Settlement.

3. What is the Lawsuit about?

The plaintiff, Darrin Duty, previously worked for RISE as a Residential Energy Specialist. He filed this Action alleging that he and other Residential Energy Specialists working in Massachusetts were entitled to overtime wages under Massachusetts law.

RISE denies the allegations in the Lawsuit, denies any and all wrongdoing, and maintains that it complied with all applicable statutes and laws. RISE further maintains that Residential Energy Specialists are exempt from overtime because they have a primary duty of outside sales.

The Court has not made any final determinations of the merits of the Mr. Duty’s allegations or RISE’s defenses in the Lawsuit and has not found that RISE 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.

4. What are my options?

You have three options when deciding how you want to respond to this Notice and the Proposed Settlement:

OPTION 1

Submit a Claim Form. You will receive money from the settlement only if you submit a valid Claim Form no later than September 5, 2025.  The claims process is described in more detail in response to Question 8, below. 

OPTION 2

Do Nothing. If you do nothing, you will remain in the class, but you will get no money from the Proposed Settlement. All of the Court’s orders will apply to you. You will not be able to file your own lawsuit to pursue the claims in this case.  In other words, if you do nothing, you will still be bound by the proposed settlement, which will affect your legal rights.

OPTION 3

Object. You may object to the Proposed Settlement by mailing, e-mailing, or faxing a written objection to the Administrator, at the address or number below, postmarked no later than September 5, 2025. Your objection must be in writing and must include a statement specifying the reasons you are objecting to the Proposed Settlement. The objection also must include your full name, mailing address, email address, and phone number. If you intend to appear before the Court to object to the Proposed Settlement at the fairness hearing (described in Question 6, below), you must state that in your objection.  In addition, you must personally sign the objection.  The Court may decline to consider any objection received after September 5, 2025 or which fails to meet the criteria described above.

Any objection must be mailed, emailed, or faxed to the Administrator, at the following address:

RISE Settlement
c/o Optime Administration, LLC
PO Box 3206
Brockton, MA 02304
Email: Rise@optimeadmin.com
Fax: 781-287-0381

Please note that, even if you submit an objection to the Proposed Settlement, you must still submit a valid Claim Form in order to get money from the Proposed Settlement.    In other words, even if you object you must also timely return a valid claim form in order to get money from the proposed settlement.   

5. Who is eligible to participate in the Proposed Settlement?

All individuals who worked as a Residential Energy Specialist for RISE in Massachusetts between June 1, 2018 and May 7, 2025, and who were not paid an overtime premium for hours worked over 40 in any work week , may participate in the Proposed Settlement. 

6. When will the Court decide if it approves the Proposed Settlement?

There will be a settlement approval hearing on October 8, 2025 at 2:00 pm at the Suffolk Superior Court, Courtroom 1309, located on the 13th 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. 

7. What are the Proposed Settlement benefits?

If the Court approves the Proposed Settlement, up to one-third of the total settlement amount will be used to pay attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by Class Counsel for bringing and prosecuting the Action.  In addition, a service award to Mr. Duty will be paid for filing this case, for serving as the class representative (including the production of personal information and submitting to a sworn deposition), and for signing a comprehensive release of any potential claims.  A portion of the Proposed Settlement will be paid to a third-party administrator (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 deducted (“Class Fund”), will be distributed on a pro rata basis to eligible Participating Class Members who timely submit Claim Forms.

Each claiming class member’s share of the Class Fund will be calculated in proportion to a reasonable estimate of their alleged damages. Those estimates will be based on two calculations. First, 80 percent of the Class Fund will be allocated based on each class member’s reported overtime hours. Second, the remaining 20 percent of the Class Fund will be distributed based on each class member’s length of employment during the class period. This latter distribution accounts for the fact that members of the class might have worked overtime hours that were not reported. This second portion of the settlement is lower than the first portion because of uncertainty about how many unreported overtime hours were worked and because RISE has additional legal defenses as to any unreported overtime hours.

Based on available data, the average gross amount payable for each member of the class is expected to be approximately $14,732. After deducting one-third of that amount for attorneys’ fees and costs, a service award share of $357, and an administrative cost share of $179, the average share of the Class Fund is expected to be approximately $9,286. Your eligible share will be more or less than this average, depending on your employment history at RISE.

If the settlement is approved by the Court, the amount you receive might be more or less than you would obtain if the case proceeded to trial. If RISE won a trial, you would receive nothing. If Mr. Duty and the class prevailed at trial, you could receive damages that are higher or lower than what you receive from this settlement. One of the advantages of a settlement is that it avoids delay and uncertainty in return for a faster and guaranteed recovery for the class.

If there are any unused, residual funds remaining in the settlement account more than ninety (90) days after all distributions (i.e., from uncashed settlement checks), those funds will be donated to the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee.

8. When will I receive a settlement payment?

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 initial check on or before December 18, 2025, assuming the Court grants final approval of the settlement and no appeals have been filed.

Following the distribution of initial payments, a reminder notice will be sent to class members who have not submitted a claim form, who will then be given another opportunity to submit a claim form. Any newly-claiming class members will receive the pro rata share that they did not claim or receive in the first round. In addition, all claimants (from the first and second rounds of claims) will receive a pro rata share of any unclaimed amounts, thereby exhausting the class fund.

The Administrator will mail any settlement payments by check to 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.

9. Are any settlement payments I receive taxable income?

Any settlement payment that you receive will be reported to the IRS to the extent required by law. 

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 RISE or its counsel.

10. Who is representing the Class and the Plaintiffs?

The Court has appointed the following attorneys to represent the Class:

These attorneys are “Settlement Class Counsel.” You do not need to hire your own attorney because Settlement Class Counsel is working on your behalf. You do, however, have the right to your own attorney, but you will be required to separately pay your own attorney’s fees. If you have questions or desire additional details, you may contact Settlement Class Counsel.

11. How can I get additional information?

This Notice only summarizes the Lawsuit, the Proposed Settlement, and related matters.  If you have any questions, or to request a copy of the relevant settlement documents or other case documents, you may find them on the Important Documents page here, or direct them to either Settlement Class Counsel (using the contact information in Question 10, above) or the Administrator at:

RISE Settlement
c/o Optime Administration, LLC
PO Box 3206
Brockton, MA 02304
Email: RISE@optimeadmin.com
Fax: 781-287-0381
Toll Free: 844-625-7313

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE OR CONTACT THE COURT, ANY COURT PERSONNEL, OR RISE’S COUNSEL ABOUT THIS CASE OR THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT.  THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO HELP YOU.