Ali v. High-Steppers Corp. d/b/a City Lights

Background

This action asserted claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal wage-and-hour law, and the New York Labor Law (NYLL). The parties asked the court to approve a negotiated settlement under the standard described in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House Inc.

The court first declined to approve the parties’ original settlement agreement on February 19, 2025, because it contained several impermissible non-economic provisions. The parties filed a first revised agreement, but the court again denied approval on April 16, 2025, because Paragraph 3 contained an overly broad, nonmutual release. The court directed the parties to revise that provision and related language.

Second Revised Agreement

The parties filed a second revised agreement on April 29, 2025. Under Paragraph 3, the plaintiffs released the defendants from FLSA and NYLL wage-and-hour claims asserted against them in this action. The released claims included asserted claims for regular and overtime wages, related benefits, liquidated damages, interest, and related attorneys’ fees and costs, subject to the agreement’s terms.

The court held that the release remained nonmutual but had been narrowed enough to cover only wage-and-hour claims asserted in this action. The court also found that the revised language on the agreement’s last page complied with its prior order by referring to wage-and-hour claims the plaintiffs had brought against the defendants.

Ruling

The court concluded that the second revised agreement was fair and reasonable under the settlement-approval standard it applied. It stated that the economic terms, including the settlement amount and plaintiffs’ counsel’s attorneys’ fees and costs, and the other non-economic terms had previously been found fair and reasonable.

Accordingly, Judge Gary Stein ordered that the Second Revised Agreement was approved and that the action was dismissed with prejudice. The opinion does not state the settlement amount.