Gil Aguilar v. N & A Productions Inc.

Background

Florencio Gil Aguilar brought claims against N & A Productions Inc., doing business as The Play Wright Irish Pub; McGees’s Bar & Grill, Inc., doing business as McGees’s Pub; and the individual defendants Peter Fitzpatrick, Thomas F. Dwyer, Colleen Dwyer, Francis J. McCawley, John Bernard Doherty, Kenneth Gerard Keating, Padraig Dwyer, and Sean Dwyer. He alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law.

The parties first submitted a proposed settlement on June 20, 2019. The court found the settlement amount and attorney’s fees fair and reasonable but declined to approve the agreement because its release of claims was overly broad. The parties then submitted a revised settlement agreement on December 18, 2019.

Revised Agreement

Under the revised agreement, the defendants agreed to pay Aguilar $40,000, the same settlement amount as in the earlier agreement. The agreement also provided for attorney’s fees equal to one-third of the settlement amount. The court relied on the reasons given in its October 24, 2019 opinion in finding the settlement amount and fees fair and reasonable.

The revised release covered wage-and-hour claims against the defendants and claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law arising on or before the agreement’s execution date. The court determined that the release was sufficiently limited because it related to the claims brought in the case or to wage-and-hour issues generally. It also did not cover claims arising after the agreement was executed.

Ruling

Judge Ronnie Abrams approved the parties’ revised settlement agreement in its entirety. The court found the revised release reasonable and stated that it could withstand judicial review. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.