Feliciano v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Background

The parties reported that they had reached a settlement in this Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case. Because FLSA claims generally cannot be privately settled with prejudice without approval from the court or the Department of Labor, the court reviewed whether the agreement was fair and reasonable. The opinion states that the settlement involved 169 plaintiffs and five named plaintiffs.

Settlement Amount

The agreement provided for a total settlement of $5,400,000. Of that amount, $1,799,820 was to be distributed for attorneys’ fees and costs, leaving $3,600,180 for the plaintiffs. Counsel represented that the plaintiffs’ maximum possible recovery was $8,427,935.36, making the settlement 64% of that claimed possible recovery.

The parties identified exemption, statute-of-limitations, and other fact-intensive defenses that could eliminate or reduce the plaintiffs’ recovery. The court also considered the expense and burden of continued expert discovery, motion practice, and a possible trial. It found that the agreement resulted from arm’s-length negotiations after extensive discovery, a settlement conference with a magistrate judge, and two mediation sessions. The court found no basis to believe that fraud or collusion was involved.

Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

The settlement requested $1,799,820 in attorneys’ fees, approximately one-third of the total settlement, plus $80,816.08 in unreimbursed costs. Counsel submitted billing records showing $1,913,137.50 in fees and $80,816.08 in costs and represented that the lawyers had worked on a contingency basis.

The court found the requested compensation reasonable in light of counsel’s work, which included investigating and researching the claims, participating in settlement and mediation conferences, conducting extensive discovery, taking 16 depositions, reviewing documents for 169 plaintiffs, and negotiating and completing the settlement. The court also noted that the requested amount represented a lodestar multiplier of 0.94.

Service Awards

The plaintiffs requested service awards of $15,000 for each of the five named plaintiffs. The court found these awards reasonable because the named plaintiffs helped investigate the claims, participated in full-day depositions and settlement-related conferences, assisted with reviewing compensation records and calculating damages, and assumed personal risks in bringing the litigation.

Ruling

Judge Vernon S. Broderick found the proposed settlement fair and reasonable. The court approved the parties’ settlement agreement, including the attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.