Muy Gomez v. New Precious Nail Inc.
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:19-cv-02659
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Muy Gomez v. New Precious Nail Inc., Judge Broderick required the parties to submit their Fair Labor Standards Act settlement for fairness review.
The plaintiffs and defendants in the FLSA case, including their counsel, were required to provide settlement terms and supporting information to the court.
What happened
In Muy Gomez v. New Precious Nail Inc., the parties told the court they had reached a settlement of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage-and-hour law. The court explained that such settlements require court or Labor Department approval when they end the claims with prejudice.
The court ordered the parties to submit the settlement terms within 30 days, along with a joint letter of no more than five pages explaining why the agreement was fair and reasonable. If the agreement included attorney’s fees, the parties also had to provide billing records and other evidence supporting the fees.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick did not approve the settlement in this order. He adjourned the post-discovery conference indefinitely and directed the clerk to terminate the motion at Document 26.
The detailed version
- Muy Gomez v. New Precious Nail Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-02659
- Vernon Broderick
- Dec. 23, 2019
Background
The court was advised that the parties had reached a settlement in this Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case. The court stated that parties may not privately settle FLSA claims with prejudice unless the settlement is approved by the district court or the Department of Labor. The settlement therefore had to be shown to be fair and reasonable.
Required Settlement Materials
The court identified the factors it would consider in reviewing the settlement, including the plaintiff’s possible recovery, the burdens and expenses the settlement would avoid, the litigation risks, whether experienced counsel negotiated at arm’s length, and the possibility of fraud or collusion. The court also stated that attorney’s fees must be assessed separately. If the settlement included fees, counsel had to provide a factual basis for the award, including contemporaneous billing records showing each attorney’s date, hours worked, and work performed.
Order and Disposition
The court ordered the parties to provide the settlement terms within 30 days. It also ordered them to submit a joint letter of no more than five pages explaining why the settlement represented a fair and reasonable compromise of disputed issues, including information about the identified factors. The court further ordered submission of supporting evidence for any attorney’s-fee award. The post-discovery conference was adjourned indefinitely, and the clerk was directed to terminate the motion at Document 26. Judge Vernon S. Broderick did not approve the settlement in this order; instead, he required additional information for review.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.