Gulino v. The Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New…

Background

The court referred the case to Special Master John S. Siffert in 2014 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53 and the court’s equitable powers. On August 6, 2025, the Special Master issued a report and recommendation concerning incentive awards for Peter Wilds-Bethea, the Estate of Elsa Gulino, and Dianne Nia Greene.

The Special Master recommended that the court adopt proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, enter proposed judgments, and certify the judgments as final and appealable under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). The parties agreed that the materials concerning the Estate of Elsa Gulino and Dianne Nia Greene accurately reflected their positions and the Special Master’s rulings. They also agreed that the court could consider objections already preserved in the record without requiring them to be resubmitted.

Court’s Review and Analysis

Under the court’s appointment order and Rule 53(f), the court reviewed de novo—that is, independently—the Special Master’s factual findings and legal conclusions to which objections applied. After reviewing the report and recommendation, the proposed findings and conclusions, and earlier interim reports the court had adopted, the court adopted the report and recommendation as to the Estate of Elsa Gulino and Dianne Nia Greene.

Following mediation led by the Special Master, the parties agreed to incentive awards of $272,996 each for the Estate of Elsa Gulino and Dianne Nia Greene. The court explained that incentive, or service, awards compensate class representatives for additional work performed for the class and encourage participation as class representatives in future class actions. The court found the awards fair and appropriate, noting that Elsa Gulino had served as a named plaintiff for more than six years and as a class representative for nearly two years, while Dianne Nia Greene had served as a named plaintiff for more than four years and organized teachers at the beginning of the case. The court also noted the case had been pending for more than twenty-eight years and that the parties had reached agreement on these awards in July 2024.

Disposition

The court adopted the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law for the Estate of Elsa Gulino and Dianne Nia Greene and ordered entry of the proposed judgments for those two named plaintiffs. It held that there was no just reason to delay and certified those judgments as final and appealable under Rule 54(b).

The court reserved judgment on Peter Wilds-Bethea’s incentive award because the parties had not completed briefing on that matter.