Luna Zuniga v. William James Bushell Corp.

Background

The court was advised that the parties had reached a settlement in the case and that the settlement included claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The order addressed how the parties could resolve or dismiss those FLSA claims. It did not itself approve the settlement or enter a dismissal.

Court’s directives

The court described three possible procedures:

1. Dismissal with prejudice after court approval. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2), the parties may seek court approval to dismiss the FLSA claims with prejudice, meaning the claims would be permanently dismissed. The court explained that, under the Second Circuit’s decision in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc., the parties cannot dismiss settled FLSA claims with prejudice through the ordinary procedure in Rule 41(a)(1)(A). The parties first had to discuss whether they would consent to have all further proceedings conducted by the assigned magistrate judge. If they both consented, they had to file the required consent form by July 16, 2024. If either party declined, the parties had to file a joint letter by that date stating that they did not consent, without identifying the party or parties who declined. The order stated that withholding consent would not have negative consequences.

If the parties did not consent to proceed before the magistrate judge, they had to submit a joint motion by July 23, 2024, explaining why the settlement was fair and should be approved. The motion had to address the factors identified in Wolinsky v. Scholastic Inc. and include the settlement agreement. The court stated that it would not approve settlement agreements containing confidentiality provisions and would not allow settlement-related materials to be filed under seal without a particularized showing overcoming the presumption of public access. If the settlement included attorney’s fees, the parties also had to address whether the fees were reasonable and provide detailed attorney time records.

2. Dismissal without prejudice without a settlement of FLSA claims. The court stated that it would accept a stipulation under Rule 41(a)(1)(A) if the stipulation dismissed the FLSA claims without prejudice and the parties certified that there had been no settlement of those claims. If the parties could not make that certification, they had to seek court review of the settlement under the first procedure. Any such stipulation and certification had to be submitted by July 16, 2024.

3. Offer of judgment. The parties could also resolve the case through an offer and acceptance of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68(a). The court explained that, under the Second Circuit’s decision in Mei Xing Yu v. Hasaki Restaurant, Inc., court approval is not required for a Rule 68(a) offer of judgment involving FLSA claims. If the parties chose this option, they had to submit the executed offer and acceptance and a proposed judgment by July 16, 2024.

Other deadline and disposition

The court extended the deadline for submitting pretrial materials under its March 21, 2024 order to August 2, 2024. This was a procedural order giving the parties instructions and deadlines; it did not decide the merits of the underlying claims or state that the case was dismissed.

Result

The court ordered the parties to follow one of the three described procedures for resolving the FLSA claims and extended the pretrial-materials deadline. No settlement approval, dismissal, or judgment was entered in this order.