Knox v. John Varvatos Enterprises, Inc.

Background

The court received the parties’ joint letter identifying four issues in the damages-calculation phase of the trial. The parties had previously agreed to have the court decide the remaining damages issues without a jury. The court stated that Issues 1, 2, and 4 did not involve disputed facts requiring a trial. It scheduled a telephone conference for March 13, 2020, concerning Issue 3.

Issue 1: Federal liquidated damages

The court considered whether it could decide that John Varvatos Enterprises acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds to believe its payment decisions did not violate the federal Equal Pay Act. That finding could have allowed the court to award no liquidated damages under 29 U.S.C. § 260.

The court held that it was bound by the jury’s finding that the defendant acted willfully. It therefore concluded that it did not have authority to make the good-faith finding that could eliminate the federal liquidated damages.

Issue 2: New York liquidated damages

The parties disagreed about whether the jury’s award under the New York Equal Pay Act included the statute’s automatic 100% liquidated-damages amount or only the additional amount tied to willfulness. The court noted that neither side had requested a jury instruction explaining the automatic 100% award when good faith was absent, and neither side objected to the relevant jury instructions.

The court concluded that the jury had been asked to determine only the additional amount resulting from willfulness. It ordered that, for the period after January 18, 2016, the New York Equal Pay Act judgment would include:

- 100% of compensatory damages: $3,000 per quarter for retail stores and $1,500 per quarter for outlet stores; and - the additional willfulness amounts awarded by the jury: $2,500 per quarter for retail stores and $1,250 per quarter for outlet stores.

The resulting total was $5,500 per quarter for retail stores and $2,750 per quarter for outlet stores.

Issue 4: Further briefing

The court required more detailed briefing on whether the automatic 100% portion of the New York Equal Pay Act damages was non-punitive. It directed the parties to file simultaneous briefs by March 17, 2020, if they could not resolve the issue, with any reply due by letter two business days later. The court also identified an unresolved question about whether federal Equal Pay Act liquidated damages would need to be added back into the damages calculations if the New York damages did not duplicate them.

Disposition

The court resolved the federal liquidated-damages issue and set the New York damages amounts described above. It did not resolve Issue 4; instead, it ordered further briefing. It scheduled a telephone conference concerning Issue 3. Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein signed the order.