Macaluso v. JZJ Services, LLCet al
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:20-cv-01407
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Macaluso v. JZJ Services, LLC, Judge Abrams approved a $25,000 wage settlement and dismissed the complaint with prejudice.
Alexa Macaluso, JZJ Services, LLC, and Jodi Perskin Kauffman; the settlement also concerned Macaluso’s claims brought on behalf of herself and those similarly situated.
What happened
Macaluso v. JZJ Services, LLC involved Alexa Macaluso’s claims for allegedly unpaid wages under federal and New York wage laws. She sued JZJ Services, LLC and Jodi Perskin Kauffman on behalf of herself and similarly situated people.
The parties reached a settlement under which the defendants would pay $25,000, including $8,333.33 in attorneys’ fees. Macaluso estimated that her maximum unpaid-wage recovery could be about $111,674, but the court considered the disputed work hours, the defendants’ argument that she was a tipped worker, and the defendants’ reported risk of bankruptcy.
Judge Ronnie Abrams found the settlement, attorneys’ fees, and release provisions fair and reasonable. The court approved the settlement, dismissed the complaint with prejudice, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- Macaluso v. JZJ Services, LLCet al · No. 1:20-cv-01407
- Ronnie Abrams
- Nov. 12, 2020
Background
Alexa Macaluso brought claims against JZJ Services, LLC and Jodi Perskin Kauffman for allegedly unpaid compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage law, and the New York Labor Law. She brought the action on behalf of herself and those similarly situated. The parties informed the court that they had reached an agreement in principle and asked the court to approve their proposed settlement.
Settlement Amount
The settlement required the defendants to pay a total of $25,000, including $8,333.33 in attorneys’ fees. Macaluso estimated that she could recover approximately $111,674 in unpaid wages if she recovered the full amount at trial, meaning the settlement represented approximately 22% of that estimated maximum recovery.
The court found the amount reasonable despite being less than the potential trial recovery. It relied on the legal and evidentiary risks of continuing the case, including a dispute over the number of hours Macaluso worked and the defendants’ position that she was a tipped worker who was not entitled to recover. The court also considered the defendants’ asserted risk of impending bankruptcy because of pandemic-related business closures and reduced operations, which could have made collection of a judgment difficult.
Attorneys’ Fees and Release
The court independently reviewed the requested attorneys’ fees and approved them. The $8,333.33 fee was approximately one-third of the settlement amount, which the court found reasonable under the percentage-of-the-fund approach used in wage cases.
The court also reviewed the settlement’s release provision. It found the release appropriately limited to claims concerning Macaluso’s demands for unpaid wages and claims arising from or relating to the facts and events alleged, or that could have been alleged, in the action. The court therefore found the release fair and reasonable.
Ruling
Judge Ronnie Abrams approved the parties’ settlement agreement. The court dismissed the complaint with prejudice in accordance with the settlement agreement, directed the Clerk of Court to terminate docket item 21, and closed the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.