Cuizon v. George & Frank's Japanese Noodle Rest. Inc.
- Alison Nathan
- 1:18-cv-00549
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Cuizon v. George & Frank’s, Judge Nathan approved the $52,000 wage settlement but limited counsel’s fees and costs to $9,658.
The six former employees who brought the wage claims, the defendants, and plaintiffs’ counsel were affected. The court-approved settlement provided $52,000, with $9,658 allocated to counsel and the balance to the plaintiffs.
What happened
In Cuizon v. George & Frank's Japanese Noodle Rest. Inc., six former restaurant employees sued under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York labor law. The parties reached a $52,000 settlement after disputing the employees’ hours, damages, meal deductions, tip-credit notice, and the defendants’ ability to pay.
The court found the settlement reasonable because the parties had genuine factual and legal disputes, the employees might recover less at trial, and the closed restaurant had limited ability to pay. The employees’ lawyers requested $17,333.33 in fees and costs, but the court found that amount too high.
Judge Alison J. Nathan approved the settlement and awarded counsel $9,658: $8,200 in attorney fees and $1,458 in costs. The court directed that the remaining settlement amount go to the plaintiffs, ordered judgment entered, and closed the case.
The detailed version
- Cuizon v. George & Frank's Japanese Noodle Rest. Inc. · No. 1:18-cv-00549
- Alison Nathan
- Nov. 17, 2020
Background
Six former employees of Sapporo Restaurant, a now-closed Japanese restaurant in Manhattan, brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York Labor Law. The parties reported that they had reached a settlement and submitted the proposed agreement for court approval. The agreement required defendants to pay $52,000 to resolve all claims. Plaintiffs’ counsel sought one-third of the settlement, or $17,333.33, in fees and costs.
Settlement Approval
The court explained that FLSA settlements must be approved by a court or the Department of Labor and must be fair and reasonable. The court found the $52,000 settlement reasonable. Plaintiffs’ damages calculation suggested they might be owed about $160,000, but defendants disputed the number of hours worked, the recovery period, the proper meal deduction, and whether they gave the notice needed to claim a tip credit. The parties also agreed that defendants had limited ability to pay because the restaurant was closed. The court concluded that plaintiffs might recover nothing or less than the settlement amount if the case continued, and that collecting a larger judgment could be difficult and time-consuming.
Attorney Fees and Costs
Counsel requested $17,333.33, including fees and costs. The court used the lodestar method as a cross-check. The lodestar is a presumptively reasonable fee calculated by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by a reasonable number of hours. Michael Faillace billed 20.5 hours at $450 per hour. The court found the hours reasonable but reduced the hourly rate to $400, resulting in an $8,200 lodestar. The court found no sufficient reason to award the requested higher amount in what it described as a routine wage-and-hour case with no motion for conditional certification.
The court found the requested $1,458 in filing and service costs reasonable and granted that request. It therefore awarded $8,200 in attorney fees and $1,458 in costs, for a total counsel award of $9,658.
Disposition
The court approved the settlement, directed that plaintiffs’ counsel receive $9,658 from the settlement amount, and directed that the balance go to the plaintiff. The Clerk of Court was ordered to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.