Wang v. Shun Lee Palace Restaurant, Inc.
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:17-cv-00840
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 9
In Wang v. Shun Lee Palace Restaurant, Judge Figueredo denied without prejudice Xiao Xu Li’s substitution motion because the submitted estate papers lacked a raised court seal.
Xiao Xu Li and the estate-related continuation of Weijun Zhen’s claims are directly affected. The order requires Li to submit properly sealed estate papers before she can be substituted as a plaintiff.
What happened
Wang v. Shun Lee Palace Restaurant, Inc. is a wage-and-hour case involving claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. After plaintiff Weijun Zhen died, his spouse, Xiao Xu Li, asked to replace him as a plaintiff.
The court found that Li filed her motion on time, that Zhen’s wage claims survived his death, and that Limited Letters of Administration showed Li was a proper representative of his estate. But the submitted copy did not show the required raised seal of the Queens County Surrogate’s Court.
Judge Valerie Figueredo denied Li’s motion without prejudice and directed her to submit a copy bearing the raised seal by January 17, 2025. The order states that the court will substitute Li for Zhen after reviewing that document.
The detailed version
- Wang v. Shun Lee Palace Restaurant, Inc. · No. 1:17-cv-00840
- Vernon Broderick
- Jan. 3, 2025
Background
The plaintiffs brought wage-and-hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law against Shun Lee Palace Restaurant, Inc., T&W Restaurant, Inc., and Michael Fong. Weijun Zhen, who had worked as a bartender at Shun Lee Palace, joined the case in 2021 and died on September 27, 2023. His spouse, Xiao Xu Li, moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(a)(1) to replace him as a plaintiff.
Rule 25 requirements
Rule 25(a)(1) permits substitution when a party dies and the claim is not extinguished. The motion must be filed within 90 days after a formal statement noting the death is served, unless the court extends the deadline. The proposed substitute must also be either the deceased party’s successor or a representative lawfully authorized to act for the estate.
Court’s analysis
The court held that the motion was timely. The court had granted two extensions before the applicable deadlines expired, and Li filed the motion by the extended deadline of April 27, 2024.
The court also held that Zhen’s claims survived his death. His FLSA claims for unpaid minimum and overtime wages were remedial rather than penal. His New York Labor Law claims—including claims for unpaid wages, overtime, spread-of-hours pay, and certain wage notices and statements—also survived under New York law.
The Limited Letters of Administration from the Queens County Surrogate’s Court established that Li was a proper representative of Zhen’s estate. However, the copy submitted to the court did not display the raised seal that the document itself said was required for validity. The court therefore directed Li to provide a copy containing that seal.
Disposition
The court denied without prejudice Xiao Xu Li’s motion to substitute herself as a plaintiff. It directed Li to submit the sealed Limited Letters of Administration by January 17, 2025, and stated that, after reviewing the document, it would substitute Li for Zhen. The Clerk was directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 383. The order addressed substitution and the survival of claims; it did not decide the underlying wage claims.
Read the full 9-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.