Chan v. A Taste of Mao, Inc.

Background

This Fair Labor Standards Act litigation involved five plaintiffs and the defendants named in the case caption. The parties submitted an original settlement agreement, which the court approved as fair and reasonable on February 19, 2019.

The parties later reported errors concerning the timing and source of settlement payments and asked to reopen the case to submit an amended agreement. The court granted that request. After reviewing the parties' proposed amended and revised amended agreements, the court denied approval of both and directed the parties either to submit another revised agreement or to follow the original agreement. The parties then advised the court that they would follow the original agreement.

Ruling

The original agreement contemplated payment of all settlement sums within 90 days of court approval and required the parties to submit papers necessary to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice. The court had also directed the plaintiff to submit a dismissal stipulation within seven days after the final payment. The plaintiff never submitted that stipulation.

The court concluded that considerably more than 90 days had passed since the parties confirmed they would adhere to the original agreement. It therefore dismissed the action with prejudice, as contemplated by the agreement and the court's February 19, 2019 order. Judge Barbara Moses directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the action.