Salazar v. 203 Lena Inc.
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:16-cv-07743
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Salazar v. 203 Lena Inc., Judge Briccetti entered default judgment awarding four plaintiffs $167,772.15 in damages, fees, costs, and interest.
The judgment affected plaintiffs Anyela Salazar, Anel Hernandez, Robert Enmanuel Emiliano, and Pichardo, and defendants 203 Lena Inc., doing business as Cocina Taller, and Dario Oleaga.
What happened
In Salazar v. 203 Lena Inc., the court had already ruled that the plaintiffs were entitled to judgment on liability after the defendants’ default. Magistrate Judge Cott then recommended awards for four plaintiffs, including damages, interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
The court adopted that recommendation but reduced Pichardo’s damages from $7,614.00 to $6,114.00 because she worked 14 days and was entitled to $250 for each day of wage-statement violations. The court also specified each plaintiff’s nine-percent prejudgment interest and corrected errors concerning Pichardo and Emiliano.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ordered judgment against 203 Lena Inc., doing business as Cocina Taller, and Dario Oleaga, totaling $167,772.15. That amount included $144,210.65 in damages and prejudgment interest, plus $23,561.50 in attorneys’ fees and costs; post-judgment interest was also awarded, and the case was closed.
The detailed version
- Salazar v. 203 Lena Inc. · No. 7:16-cv-07743
- Vincent Briccetti
- Oct. 23, 2020
Background
The court had previously granted in part the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment and determined that the plaintiffs were entitled to judgment on liability. It referred the damages question to Magistrate Judge Cott for an inquest. Magistrate Judge Cott recommended damages for Salazar, Hernandez, Emiliano, and Pichardo, along with prejudgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and post-judgment interest.
No party objected to the report and recommendation. The court reviewed the recommendation, the amended complaint, and the plaintiffs’ submissions and found no error.
Court’s Modifications
The court adopted the report and recommendation as the court’s opinion, with modifications. It reduced Pichardo’s recommended damages from $7,614.00 to $6,114.00. The court explained that Pichardo worked 14 days and therefore should receive $3,500.00 for wage-statement violations—14 days multiplied by $250—rather than the $5,000 maximum used in the recommendation. The court also corrected the midpoint date used to calculate Emiliano’s prejudgment interest and corrected the amount of Pichardo’s unpaid wages.
The court awarded nine-percent prejudgment interest on unpaid wages as follows:
- Salazar: $13,245.72 in prejudgment interest on $27,761.62 in unpaid wages. - Hernandez: $5,892.95 in prejudgment interest on $14,208.78 in unpaid wages. - Emiliano: $943.57 in prejudgment interest on $2,245.71 in unpaid wages. - Pichardo: $392.19 in prejudgment interest on $957 in unpaid wages.
The resulting amounts for damages plus prejudgment interest were $80,408.96 for Salazar, $44,810.51 for Hernandez, $12,484.99 for Emiliano, and $6,506.19 for Pichardo.
Disposition
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ordered judgment against 203 Lena Inc., doing business as Cocina Taller, and Dario Oleaga, for a total of $167,772.15. The total consisted of $144,210.65 in damages, including prejudgment interest, and $23,561.50 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The plaintiffs also received post-judgment interest under 28 U.S.C. § 1961. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.