Garcia v. Zavala

Background

Angelica Garcia filed a motion under Rule 55(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure seeking default judgment against Pascual Zavala, P & Z Foods, Inc., and P & Z Group, Inc. The motion was filed on October 7, 2021. After an earlier order gave Garcia an opportunity to provide additional materials, she filed supplemental materials. The court vacated the hearing and decided the motion based on the written submissions.

Rulings

The court granted the motion to the extent Garcia sought entry of default judgment against Zavala and P & Z Foods. It denied the motion as to P & Z Group. The court had previously found that Garcia had not alleged enough facts to support holding P & Z Group liable as her employer, as an alter ego of Zavala, or as an alter ego of P & Z Foods. The court explained that the allegations in Garcia’s Second Amended Complaint were too conclusory to establish alter-ego liability. Facts not established by the pleadings and claims that are not adequately pleaded cannot support default judgment.

The court granted Garcia’s requests for $63,278.82 in individual damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Labor Code, $270,770.24 in civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, $179,776.69 in attorneys’ fees, and $4,399.52 in costs. The court found the requested hours, hourly rates, and costs reasonable. It noted that some claims did not independently permit recovery of attorneys’ fees, but found those claims sufficiently connected to other wage claims for which fees were recoverable.

Disposition

Judge Maxine M. Chesney ordered that the motion for default judgment be granted in part and denied in part. The court awarded Garcia a total of $518,225.27, consisting of individual damages, civil penalties, attorneys’ fees, and costs. The court denied default judgment against P & Z Group and granted it against Zavala and P & Z Foods.