Selca v. B.M.H. Realty LTD.
- James Cott
- 1:19-cv-03985
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Selca v. B.M.H. Realty, Magistrate Judge Cott approved the parties’ Fair Labor Standards Act settlement and directed the case closed.
The order affected Luigj Selca, B.M.H. Realty Ltd d/b/a Heller Realty and the other defendants, and Selca’s counsel. It approved their settlement and directed that the case be closed.
What happened
Selca v. B.M.H. Realty LTD d/b/a Heller Realty was a wage-and-hour case brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The parties agreed to a settlement and asked the court to review it.
The court reviewed the parties’ fairness letter and settlement agreement. The agreement provided $20,000 to Luigj Selca and $20,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to his counsel.
Magistrate Judge James L. Cott found the settlement fair and reasonable under the circumstances, approved it, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Selca v. B.M.H. Realty LTD. · No. 1:19-cv-03985
- James Cott
- Mar. 20, 2020
Background
This was a wage-and-hour case under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal law governing matters such as minimum wages and overtime. The parties consented to have Magistrate Judge James L. Cott decide the case. They submitted a joint fairness letter and a fully signed settlement agreement for court approval. The opinion states that a mediation with a court-appointed mediator led to the settlement.
Court’s analysis
The court reviewed the settlement under the standard requiring judicial approval of Fair Labor Standards Act settlements. It found that all of the settlement terms, including the allocation of attorneys’ fees and costs, appeared fair and reasonable under the circumstances.
The settlement provided $20,000 to Luigj Selca and an equal $20,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to his counsel. The court recognized that an equal division might not be appropriate in every case, but approved the allocation here. It noted that counsel’s time records showed more than $10,000 in billed work beyond the amount counsel would recover. The court also stated that approving the fee allocation did not approve counsel’s hourly rate, which appeared high based on the court’s experience in wage-and-hour cases.
Disposition
Judge Cott approved the settlement. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.