De los Santos Comonfort v. Services Mangia, Inc.

Background

Ricardo De los Santos Comonfort brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law against Services Mangia, Inc. (doing business as Mangia 48th Madison), Mangia 57, Inc. (doing business as Mangia 57th Street), Joanna Sasha & Friends Food Svc Inc. (doing business as Mangia 57th Street), Sasha Muniak, Pawell Koszalka, Margaret Doe, and Silvia Doe. He brought the action individually and on behalf of others similarly situated.

The parties asked the court to approve their settlement agreement. The opinion states that the parties negotiated a $90,000 settlement through mediation. The plaintiff estimated his damages at $209,654.33, making the settlement more than 40% of that estimate. The defendants argued that they had paid the plaintiff more than required by law and produced employment records contradicting his claims. The opinion also states that the plaintiff no longer worked for the defendants.

Settlement Approval

The court explained that FLSA claims cannot be privately settled with prejudice in the Second Circuit without approval from the district court or the Department of Labor. The court therefore reviewed whether the agreement was fair and reasonable under the circumstances.

The court approved the settlement amount. It considered the settlement’s relationship to the plaintiff’s estimated recovery, the risks and costs of continuing the litigation, the parties’ mediation and negotiations, and the absence of circumstances weighing against approval. The court concluded that the agreement reflected a reasonable compromise over disputed issues.

Attorney Fees and Costs

The proposed agreement allocated $29,999 to the plaintiff’s counsel, described as one-third of the settlement amount. The court compared that amount with the lodestar, a calculation based on counsel’s reasonable hourly rates multiplied by the hours worked. The court found a lodestar of $6,865 and determined that the proposed amount produced a multiplier of 4.36.

Although the court recognized that the case involved contested legal and factual issues and settlement negotiations lasting from February through September 2020, it found the proposed award too high. The court reduced the attorney-fee award to $20,000, producing a multiplier of 2.9. The opinion states that costs were $687.60.

Disposition

Judge Edgardo Ramos approved the settlement agreement subject to reducing attorney fees and costs to $20,687.60 and increasing the plaintiff’s award to $69,312.40. The court dismissed the case with prejudice, directed the clerk to terminate the settlement motion, and directed the clerk to terminate the case.