Rahman v. Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc.

Background

Mahfujur Rahman and Liton Shah sued Red Chili Indian Cafe, Inc., Mohammed Mojnu Miah, and Noor Islam for unpaid wages and related relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The court previously entered default judgments against all three defendants. A default judgment is a judgment entered when a party does not defend the case.

The court referred the matter to Magistrate Judge Moses for an inquest, meaning a proceeding to determine damages and attorneys’ fees after the defendants’ defaults. The plaintiffs requested $58,768.86 for Rahman and $90,829.71 for Shah, for a total of $149,598.57, plus interest and attorneys’ fees.

Report and Recommendation

On November 22, 2024, Judge Moses recommended a total award of $126,247.50, plus pre-judgment interest. He concluded that the plaintiffs supported most, but not all, of the damages they requested. He also recommended that the court vacate the default as to the plaintiffs’ statutory-damages claims under New York’s Wage Theft Protection Act and dismiss those claims without prejudice. “Without prejudice” means the dismissal does not itself bar a later refiling.

The parties had 14 days to object to the report, but no party filed an objection. Because there were no timely objections, Judge Abrams reviewed the report for clear error—an obvious mistake on the face of the record—and found none.

Ruling

Judge Abrams adopted Judge Moses’s report and recommendation in its entirety. The court awarded:

- Rahman $38,880, plus pre-judgment interest of $4.65 per day from April 7, 2016, through entry of judgment, calculated in the order as $15,252; - Shah $66,472.50, plus pre-judgment interest of $8.19 per day from October 30, 2015, through entry of judgment, calculated in the order as $28,173.60; and - The plaintiffs $20,895 in reasonable attorneys’ fees.

The defendants were held jointly and severally responsible for $126,247.50 in damages and fees, plus $43,425.60 in pre-judgment interest, for a total of $169,673.10. The court also vacated the entry of default as to the plaintiffs’ Wage Theft Protection Act statutory-damages claims. Because no party filed objections after being warned of the consequence, the court stated that appellate review was waived and precluded.