Rosario v. Mis Hijos Deli Corp.

Background

A jury found Mis Hijos Deli Corp., Palma Grocery Corp., 251 E. 123rd St. Realty, LLC, Jose Palma, Leonida Collado, and Junior Palma liable for failing to pay Manuel de Jesus Rosario the required minimum wage and overtime pay and for failing to provide required wage notices and statements. The jury’s verdict was based on violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Laws. On March 2, 2020, the court entered a $89,670.35 judgment against the defendants.

Fee motion

Rosario moved under federal and New York law for $154,536.76 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The defendants opposed the motion and argued that the amount should be reduced by at least 70%.

The court used the lodestar method, which generally calculates fees by multiplying a reasonable number of hours by reasonable hourly rates. Rosario requested hourly rates of $400 for Steven Ross, $300 for Eric Dawson, and $150 for each of two law clerks. The court found those rates reasonable because they were within or below rates approved by federal courts in New York.

The court also found the hours reasonable. Ross reported 205.86 hours litigating the case and 5.1 hours preparing the fee application. Dawson reported 193.22 hours litigating and 10.25 hours preparing the application. The two law clerks reported two and seven hours. The court rejected the defendants’ arguments that the case was straightforward, the billing descriptions were too vague, administrative work was not compensable, or both attorneys’ participation was unnecessary. It cited the defendants’ litigious conduct, difficulties proving that each defendant was an employer under the federal law, missing documents, inaccurate tax and payroll records, and the attorneys’ work with financial records, depositions, and trial.

Costs and offer of judgment

Rosario also sought $10,133.48 in costs, including filing and service expenses, deposition fees, interpreters, trial preparation, legal research, transportation, and document-acquisition costs. The defendants objected only to $1,119.46 in legal-research costs. The court rejected that objection and found the overall costs reasonable.

The defendants argued that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 required reducing fees and costs incurred after Rosario rejected their February 5, 2019 offer of judgment for $108,000. The court rejected that argument because the offer included attorneys’ fees and costs accrued through the offer date, while the $89,670.35 trial judgment did not include those amounts. The court also noted that the offer would have been paid over three years and was unsecured, while the trial judgment was later secured by an attachment on real property.

Ruling

Judge Jed S. Rakoff granted Rosario’s motion in full and awarded $154,536.76 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The defendants were jointly and severally liable for that award. The fee award was in addition to the $89,670.35 judgment entered after the jury verdict. The court directed the Clerk to close the fee-motion docket entry and the case.