Clemente v. Midtown East NY LLC
- Barbara Moses
- 1:19-cv-02647
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Clemente v. Midtown East NY LLC, Judge Moses vacated deadlines, adjourned trial dates, and required submissions supporting approval of the parties’ wage-and-hour settlement.
The plaintiffs and defendants, whose case deadlines, conferences, and trial dates were vacated or postponed while the proposed settlement undergoes court review.
What happened
Rogelio Villa Clemente and the other plaintiffs sued Midtown East NY LLC and the other defendants under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A bench trial was scheduled for September 14, 2020, but the parties told the court they had reached a settlement covering all remaining claims.
The court vacated the existing deadlines and postponed the conferences and trial dates. It required the parties to submit a joint explanation showing that the settlement was fair and reasonable, the signed written agreement for the public docket, and records supporting any attorneys’ fees and costs.
Judge Barbara Moses did not approve the settlement in this order. She cautioned the parties about confidentiality terms, non-disparagement provisions, one-sided releases, and unsupported fee awards, and directed them to submit the required materials by September 10, 2020.
The detailed version
- Clemente v. Midtown East NY LLC · No. 1:19-cv-02647
- Barbara Moses
- Aug. 28, 2020
Background
The plaintiffs brought this Fair Labor Standards Act case against Midtown East NY LLC and the other defendants. The court had scheduled the case for a bench trial on September 14, 2020. On August 27, 2020, the parties informed Judge Moses that they had reached a settlement resolving all claims that remained for trial.
Court’s orders
The court vacated all previously set deadlines and postponed all conference and trial dates without setting new dates. The parties were ordered to submit, by September 10, 2020:
- A joint letter explaining why the settlement was fair and reasonable under the factors used for reviewing Fair Labor Standards Act settlements; - A written settlement agreement signed by all parties, which would be filed on the public docket; and - If the agreement included attorneys’ fees and costs, counsel’s contingency-fee agreement, if any, along with time and expense records.
Settlement provisions and fees
The court cautioned that confidentiality provisions are rarely appropriate in wage-and-hour settlements. It also cautioned that a non-disparagement clause should not prevent a plaintiff from making truthful statements about the employment, the lawsuit, or the settlement.
The court further stated that it ordinarily will not approve one-way or unequal general releases benefiting remote or unknown corporate affiliates. It noted that genuinely mutual releases may be approved if the plaintiff no longer works for the defendant.
The court explained that its fairness review includes attorneys’ fees and costs. Any proposed fee award must appear in the written settlement agreement, be signed by the parties, and be supported by authenticated fee and expense records. The parties must also explain the basis for the award, with the degree of success identified as the most important factor in assessing reasonableness.
Disposition
Judge Barbara Moses ordered the parties to submit the specified settlement materials and vacated or postponed the existing case deadlines and dates. The order did not approve or reject the settlement.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.