Buckley v. The National Football League
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:18-cv-03309
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Buckley v. National Football League, Judge Schofield ordered plaintiffs to support their proposed wage settlement with fee records and a trial-recovery estimate.
The plaintiffs, who were required to provide additional support for their proposed wage-and-hour settlement, attorneys’ fees and costs, and estimated trial recovery.
What happened
In Buckley v. The National Football League, the plaintiffs asked the court to approve a proposed settlement of their wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage law.
The plaintiffs requested $15,000 for attorneys’ fees and costs but did not provide documents supporting that amount. They also estimated that their possible trial recovery could be up to three or four times their unpaid overtime wages, without calculating the estimate.
The court ordered the plaintiffs to submit supporting documents and their best numerical estimate of possible trial recovery by December 4, 2020. Judge Schofield did not state in this order whether the settlement was approved or denied.
The detailed version
- Buckley v. The National Football League · No. 1:18-cv-03309
- Lorna Schofield
- Nov. 24, 2020
Background
The plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion seeking settlement of their wage-and-hour claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The motion included a request for $15,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that, when reviewing a proposed FLSA settlement, it must consider supporting documentation for attorneys’ fees and costs and the plaintiffs’ possible recovery if the case went to trial. The plaintiffs had not provided documents supporting the requested fees and costs. They also stated that their trial recovery could be up to “three (or four, in certain cases) times unpaid overtime wages,” but they did not provide a numerical calculation or documentary support for unpaid wages and overtime.
Order
The court ordered the plaintiffs to file, by December 4, 2020, (1) documentation substantiating their claim for attorneys’ fees and costs and (2) their best numerical estimate of potential recovery at trial, including documentary support for unpaid wages and overtime. This order does not state whether the settlement motion was ultimately granted or denied. Judge Lorna G. Schofield issued the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.