Villalva Estrada v. Giovanni's Italian Eatery, Inc.

Background

Floriberto Villalva Estrada brought claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL). The opinion discusses the claims against Giovanni’s Italian Pizzeria, Inc. and Mentor Perlaska. It states that Perlaska owned and controlled Giovanni’s and set employee wages and hours.

Estrada worked as a cook and delivery person from February 17 through September 4, 2015. He worked approximately 74 hours per week, was paid $350 per week, and was not paid for his last week. He alleged that he was not paid the required minimum wage or overtime for hours over 40 per week, and that he did not receive spread-of-hours pay for workdays lasting more than 10 hours. He also alleged that the defendants did not provide required wage notices or wage statements.

Default and Report

After the defendants were served and failed to respond, the Clerk entered certificates of default. The court later entered an order of default on August 6, 2019, and referred the case to Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein for an inquest, meaning a proceeding to determine damages. Judge Gorenstein issued a report and recommendation (R&R) recommending an award of $47,086.68, plus interest at $3.60 per day from May 28, 2015, through the date of judgment. He also recommended a 15% increase if any part of the judgment remained unpaid after 90 days following judgment, or 90 days after resolution of any appeal, whichever applied.

Neither side objected to the R&R. Because there were no objections, the parties waived further judicial review, but the district court reviewed the R&R for clear error and found none.

Liability and Damages

For liability purposes, the court accepted the complaint’s properly pleaded factual allegations as true because of the defendants’ default, while requiring reasonable proof of the amount of damages. The court concluded that both Giovanni’s and Perlaska were Estrada’s employers during the relevant period.

The court addressed only the NYLL wage claims because the NYLL provided the greater recovery and Estrada could not recover twice under both the NYLL and the FLSA for the same unpaid wages. The damages were:

- $8,850 in unpaid minimum wages; - $4,250 in unpaid overtime wages; - $1,500 in spread-of-hours pay; - $14,600 in liquidated damages, equal to the unpaid wages; - $5,000 for failure to provide a wage notice; - $5,000 for failure to provide wage statements; and - $7,886.68 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

The attorneys’ fees and costs consisted of $7,117.50 in attorneys’ fees and $769.18 in costs. The magistrate judge reduced the requested attorneys’ fees because the case was uncontested, the requested billing rates were too high, and some time entries were unreasonable or too vague. The district court found no error in those reductions.

The court awarded pre-judgment interest only on the unpaid-wage damages, not on the statutory damages or liquidated damages. It used May 28, 2015, as the midpoint of the period during which the unpaid wages accrued. Interest was calculated at 9% per year, or $3.60 per day on $14,600.

Ruling

Judge Paul G. Gardephe adopted Judge Gorenstein’s R&R in its entirety. The court awarded Estrada $47,086.68 plus interest at $3.60 per day from May 28, 2015, through the date of judgment. It ordered that the judgment include an automatic 15% increase if any part of the judgment remained unpaid after the applicable 90-day period. Estrada was directed to submit a proposed judgment by August 28, 2020.