Park v. FDM Group Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:16-cv-01520
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Park v. FDM Group, Judge Netburn approved the class and wage settlement, awarded fees and expenses, and dismissed the action with prejudice.
The settlement affected the participating Rule 23 class members and Fair Labor Standards Act opt-in plaintiffs, except the three class members who opted out. It also affected the named, lead, and service-award plaintiffs, class counsel, FDM Group, Inc., the released parties, and the claims administrator.
What happened
In Park v. FDM Group, Inc., the court reviewed an unopposed request for final approval of a settlement resolving the class and collective action against FDM Group, Inc. The court found the settlement fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the class members. It also found that the notices adequately explained the case, settlement, exclusion and objection rights, and the final hearing.
No class member objected, and three class members asked to be excluded. The court stated that almost 99% of the class members who received notice participated in the settlement. It approved $1,378,333.33 in attorneys’ fees, up to $120,000 in litigation expenses, and up to $25,188 for the claims administrator. It also approved service payments to the named and other plaintiffs, including $20,000 for Grace Park and $10,000 for Oronde Bell.
Judge Sarah Netburn approved the settlement and related payments and dismissed the action on the merits with prejudice. The order permanently barred participating class members and other specified plaintiffs from bringing the released state and federal claims described in the settlement. The court retained jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement.
The detailed version
- Park v. FDM Group Inc. · No. 1:16-cv-01520
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 22, 2021
Background
Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion seeking final approval of a settlement with FDM Group, Inc., approval of a settlement under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and approval of attorneys’ fees and expenses. The court had preliminarily approved the settlement on September 8, 2020, and held a final fairness hearing on January 19, 2021.
Settlement approval
The court approved the settlement under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e) and the Fair Labor Standards Act. It found that the settlement was fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the class members, and that it resulted from arm’s-length negotiations. The court also found that the notices adequately explained the action, the class and collective action, the settlement, the right to opt out, the right to object, the right to have separate counsel, and the right to appear at the final hearing. The court found that the notices and their distribution complied with the applicable law.
No class members objected. Three class members requested exclusion from the settlement, and the court stated that almost 99% of the class members who received notice participated.
Fees, expenses, and service payments
The court granted class counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and awarded $1,378,333.33, equal to one-third of the gross settlement fund. It found that amount fair and reasonable under the percentage-of-recovery method. The court also approved up to $120,000 from the settlement fund for class counsel’s litigation costs and expenses, and up to $25,188 for costs and expenses incurred by the claims administrator, RG/2 Claims Administration.
The court approved service payments from the settlement fund of $20,000 to Grace Park, $10,000 to Oronde Bell, and $1,500 each to Daniel Ferguson, Steve Coupet, Philip Zeiss, Selenny Luna, Rui Lin, Milosz Kowal, Anthony Ross, Elton Dakaj, Joseph Gaglione, Mario Alexandre, Philip Kim, Tia Mosobbir, John Campagna, Choudhury Ahmed, Kishan Patel, Jeremy Moulton, Ramin Shirvani, Matin Babaez, and Lawrence Leo. It found those payments reasonable and tied to the recipients’ services for the class.
Dismissal and releases
The court ordered that the action be dismissed on the merits with prejudice. Participating Rule 23 class members, other than the three people who opted out, were permanently barred from pursuing the released state-law claims against the released parties as defined in the settlement. The named plaintiff, lead plaintiffs, and opt-in plaintiffs who endorsed specified settlement checks also released and were permanently barred from pursuing the released state-law and federal-law claims. Class representatives and plaintiffs receiving service payments additionally released broader claims relating to their employment or termination, contracts, equitable relief, damages, taxes, attorneys’ fees, torts, and claims under federal, state, or local law, as specified in the settlement.
The court retained jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement and entered the judgment as a final judgment under that agreement. Judge Sarah Netburn issued the order.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.