Tendilla v. 1465 Espresso Bar LLC

Background

Maurilio Tendilla filed a complaint in 2018 and later amended it, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law. After mediation, Tendilla and the defendants informed the court that they had reached a settlement. They later submitted the proposed agreement and a letter explaining why they believed it was fair.

The agreement provided for a total payment of $32,500, including attorney’s fees and costs. Tendilla’s counsel sought $11,232.27 in fees and expenses.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that FLSA settlements must be approved by a court or the Department of Labor. The court must determine whether the settlement is fair and reasonable—that is, whether it reasonably compromises disputed issues rather than waives statutory rights because of employer pressure.

The court considered the circumstances of the settlement, including the possible amount Tendilla could recover, the burdens and costs of continuing the case, the litigation risks, whether the agreement resulted from arm’s-length bargaining, and any possibility of fraud or collusion.

The court found the total settlement reasonable. Tendilla alleged that he was owed $50,000 in unpaid overtime and spread-of-hours wages, an equal amount in liquidated damages, and $10,000 in statutory damages for alleged failures to provide wage notices and weekly wage statements. The defendants disputed when Tendilla began working for them and argued that the FLSA did not apply because he worked as a manager and was exempt from overtime. The parties agreed that the exemption issue was close, and the defendants’ position, if proven, could have eliminated years of claims or all of them.

The court also approved the attorney’s-fee award. The requested fee represented one-third of the total settlement, a percentage courts in the district routinely approve in FLSA cases. The court used the lodestar method as a cross-check. A lodestar is the product of a reasonable hourly rate and the reasonable number of hours worked. The court found that the lodestar was $22,450, which was greater than the one-third fee in the settlement, and therefore approved the fee award. The court also found the requested $600 for filing fees and service reasonable.

Disposition

Judge Alison J. Nathan approved the settlement agreement in full. The clerk was directed to close the case. The opinion approved the negotiated resolution but did not decide whether Tendilla’s underlying wage allegations were correct.