Suarez v. BQA Transport LLC

Background

Erving Suarez sued BQA Transport LLC, RY-MO Logistics, Inc., and Eddie Bal Doe over alleged violations of state and federal wage-and-hour laws. The parties settled the lawsuit in December 2023. Under the Settlement Agreement, the defendants agreed to pay $30,000 in fifteen monthly installments: $19,448.01 to Suarez and $10,551.99 to his counsel, Stillman Legal, P.C. The court dismissed the case with prejudice but retained jurisdiction to enforce the Settlement Agreement.

The parties also executed an Affidavit of Confession of Judgment. That document provided that, if the defendants failed to make timely settlement payments, Suarez could obtain a $45,000 judgment against Barakat Emadeddin in New York state court, reduced by amounts already paid to Suarez. The opinion states that Emadeddin was never added as a party and that his relationship to the parties was unknown. The Settlement Agreement anticipated that the confession of judgment would be handled in state court.

In January 2025, the court reopened the case for the limited purpose of allowing Suarez to seek enforcement of the Settlement Agreement. Suarez represented that the defendants had paid $15,999.71 and that $14,000.29 remained unpaid: $9,075.99 owed to him and $4,924.30 owed to his counsel. His motion sought two different judgments, one for the unpaid settlement amount and another under the confession of judgment.

Court’s Review

The court had referred the motion to Magistrate Judge Cave, who recommended granting it. Because no party objected, Judge Caproni reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake on the face of the record. She found none and credited Suarez’s uncontested statement about the amount paid.

The court agreed that Suarez was entitled to a judgment for breach of the Settlement Agreement because the court had approved that agreement and retained jurisdiction to enforce it. The court concluded that the confession of judgment was instead contemplated for enforcement in state court and therefore did not provide a basis for the requested judgment in this action.

Disposition

Judge Valerie Caproni adopted the Report and Recommendation in full. Suarez’s Second Motion to Enforce Judgment was granted to the extent it sought enforcement of the Settlement Agreement. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment for Suarez and against the defendants in the amount of $14,000.29, consisting of $9,075.99 owed to Suarez and $4,924.30 owed to Stillman Legal, P.C.

The court also stated that, because neither party objected to the recommendation and the recommendation warned that failing to object would waive objections, appellate review of the decision was precluded.