Juarez v. ABC Corp.
- Robert Lehrburger
- 1:18-cv-10949
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Juarez v. ABC Corp., Judge Lehrburger approved the parties’ fair and reasonable wage-settlement agreement under federal and New York law and closed the case.
The plaintiffs and defendants in this Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law wage-and-hour case; the court-approved settlement resolved the action and the case was closed.
What happened
In Juarez v. ABC Corp., the plaintiffs brought claims for damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The parties asked the court to approve their settlement agreement.
The court reviewed the agreement and considered the risks and costs of continuing the case, the possible recovery, the negotiations, attorneys’ fees, and the possibility of fraud or collusion. It found the agreement fair and reasonable, noting that it had no confidentiality restrictions, included a mutual non-disparagement provision with exceptions, narrowly released wage-and-hour claims, and provided attorneys’ fees within a fair range.
Judge Robert W. Lehrburger approved the settlement, directed the Clerk of Court to terminate all motions and deadlines, and ordered the case closed.
The detailed version
- Juarez v. ABC Corp. · No. 1:18-cv-10949
- Robert Lehrburger
- May 5, 2020
Background
The plaintiffs sued for damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage-and-hour law, and the New York Labor Law. The parties jointly asked the court to approve their settlement agreement and submitted a fully executed copy on May 5, 2020.
Court’s Review
The court explained that it had to determine whether the settlement was fair and reasonable and resulted from arm’s-length negotiations rather than employer overreaching. The court had helped mediate the case and reviewed the settlement agreement and the parties’ letter. It considered, among other things, prior proceedings, the risks, burdens, and costs of continuing the case, the possible recovery, the parties’ negotiations, attorneys’ fees, and the possibility of fraud or collusion.
The court noted that the agreement contained no confidentiality restrictions, that its non-disparagement provision was mutual and included appropriate exceptions, that its release was narrowly limited to wage-and-hour claims, and that the attorneys’ fees were within a fair, reasonable, and acceptable range.
Ruling
The court found the settlement agreement fair and reasonable and approved it. The Clerk of Court was requested to terminate all motions and deadlines and close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.