Clarke v. City of New York

Background

The plaintiffs brought this action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on behalf of current and former Urban Park Rangers, Associate Urban Park Rangers, and Associate Park Service Workers employed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The complaint sought backpay, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs from the City based on alleged FLSA violations.

The parties entered early settlement discussions instead of conducting extensive merits discovery. After notifying the court that they had reached a settlement in principle, plaintiffs’ counsel submitted a proposed settlement for court approval. The court initially denied the approval request without prejudice because it had concerns and questions about the submitted information. Counsel then submitted a revised application and additional communications with the plaintiffs.

Settlement Terms

The Settlement Agreement provides for a total payment of $1,724,050.02. The agreement allocates $1,139,913.65 to 349 participating plaintiffs and $584,136.37 to attorneys’ fees and costs. Each participating plaintiff will receive backpay and liquidated damages.

The plaintiffs claimed $1,093,516 in backpay and $2,241,583.58 in total damages, including liquidated damages. The settlement provides $818,541.61 in aggregate backpay and $318,872.04 in liquidated damages, which the court described as approximately 51% of the total alleged damages.

Individual payments were calculated using a point system based on the number of weeks in a defined recovery period. The court found that methodology reasonable. The agreement also provides $1,250 service awards to each of two plaintiffs who served on the settlement team. The court found those awards appropriate.

The agreement releases only wage-and-hour claims that were or could have been asserted in this action for the period when the plaintiffs worked in the specified positions. The court noted that the release is non-mutual but narrowly limited. The agreement contains no confidentiality or non-disparagement clause.

Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

Plaintiffs’ counsel will receive a one-third contingency fee of $569,956.82, plus documented out-of-pocket expenses of $14,179.55. The court found the fee consistent with the written agreements between counsel and the plaintiffs and with fees routinely approved in FLSA cases.

The court also considered the lodestar, a calculation based on the reasonable number of hours worked multiplied by reasonable hourly rates. Counsel initially reported a lodestar of $163,904.50 and later reported $191,109.50 after including additional work. The later figure produced a multiplier of 2.98. The court concluded that the one-third fee was not excessive or unreasonable, particularly because counsel would continue working to administer payments and tax forms for the 349 plaintiffs.

Ruling

Judge Gary Stein held that the economic and non-economic terms of the Settlement Agreement were fair and reasonable. The court also found the attorneys’ fees and costs fair and reasonable, considered the absence of objections from the participating plaintiffs, and approved the parties’ proposed retention of continuing jurisdiction.

Accordingly, the court approved the Settlement Agreement and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case. The opinion does not decide whether the City actually violated the FLSA; it approves the parties’ settlement instead.