Alawamri v. S.V.B. Corp.
- Lewis Liman
- 1:22-cv-08966
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Alawamri v. S.V.B. Corp., Judge Liman ordered settlement details and held a fairness hearing before deciding whether to approve the proposed agreement.
Khalil Alawamri, S.V.B. Corp., the other defendants, and plaintiff's counsel are required to provide settlement information and participate in the fairness-review process.
What happened
Khalil Alawamri sued S.V.B. Corp. and other defendants under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The parties told the court they had reached a settlement in principle.
The court ordered the parties to submit a joint letter by July 19, 2024, explaining why the proposed settlement should be approved as fair and reasonable. The letter must address confidentiality, non-disparagement terms, releases, and any requested attorney-fee award, supported by appropriate documentation.
Judge Lewis J. Liman also ordered the parties to appear by telephone for a settlement fairness hearing on July 24, 2024. The opinion did not approve or reject the settlement.
The detailed version
- Alawamri v. S.V.B. Corp. · No. 1:22-cv-08966
- Lewis Liman
- July 9, 2024
Background
Khalil Alawamri brought this Fair Labor Standards Act case against S.V.B. Corp. and other defendants. The parties informed the court that they had reached a settlement in principle.
Under Second Circuit law, the court must review a settlement in a Fair Labor Standards Act case, including any proposed attorney-fee award, to determine whether it is fair. The court cited the factors discussed in Wolinsky v. Scholastic, Inc. and the fee-review principles in Fisher v. SD Protection Inc.
Order
The court ordered the parties to submit a joint letter by July 19, 2024. The letter must explain the basis for the proposed settlement and why the court should approve it as fair and reasonable. It must address any confidentiality provisions, non-disparagement provisions, and releases in the proposed agreement.
If the settlement includes an attorney-fee award for plaintiff's counsel, the letter must address that award and provide supporting documentation when appropriate. The court stated that simply identifying the fee as a proportion of the total settlement is insufficient. Adequate documentation should normally include contemporaneous time records showing, for each attorney, the date, hours worked, and nature of the work. The court warned that insufficient documentation could lead it to reject the proposed fee award.
Disposition and hearing
The court directed the parties to appear by telephone for a settlement fairness hearing on July 24, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. It requested that Alawamri appear, with an interpreter if necessary. Judge Lewis J. Liman did not approve or reject the settlement in this order; he required further submissions and a hearing before deciding whether the proposed settlement was fair.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.