Tokareva v. Security Service Provider Corp.
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:20-cv-09867
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
Tokareva v. Security Service Provider Corp.: Judge Ramos approved the parties’ revised settlement of FLSA and New York wage claims and closed the case.
Asya Tokareva receives the approved settlement payment, while Security Service Provider Corp. resolves the asserted FLSA and New York Labor Law claims under the agreement. Tokareva’s counsel receives the approved fees and costs.
What happened
In Asya Tokareva v. Security Service Provider Corp., Asya Tokareva sued Security Service Provider Corp. under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The parties asked the court to approve a settlement after an earlier agreement was not approved.
The revised agreement gives Tokareva $3,350, plus $831.13 in attorney’s fees and $818.87 in litigation costs. The court found the payment and the requested fees reasonable, noting the disputed issues, the early stage of the case, and the risks and delays of continued litigation.
Judge Edgardo Ramos approved the revised settlement and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Tokareva v. Security Service Provider Corp. · No. 1:20-cv-09867
- Edgardo Ramos
- Feb. 16, 2021
Background
Asya Tokareva brought this action against Security Service Provider Corp. alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law. The parties first submitted a proposed settlement for approval. The court declined to approve that agreement without prejudice because it included a non-disparagement clause and Tokareva’s counsel had not provided evidence supporting the requested attorney’s fees.
The parties then submitted a revised settlement agreement and an amended letter supporting its fairness. The revised agreement removed the non-disparagement clause, and counsel provided documentation supporting the fee request.
Settlement Amount
The revised agreement provides Tokareva with $3,350. She had alleged approximately $8,000 in unpaid wages, so the settlement represented 42% of her claimed unpaid wages. The court found the amount fair and reasonable because the issues were contested, the case was still at an early stage, discovery had not begun, and the settlement provided certainty without the risks and delays of continued litigation.
Attorney’s Fees and Costs
The agreement awards Tokareva’s counsel $831.13 in attorney’s fees and $818.87 in litigation costs. The court independently reviewed whether the fee request was reasonable, as required in an FLSA case.
Counsel reported working 2.7 hours at an hourly rate of $720, and a firm paralegal reported working 9.1 hours at $175 per hour. Those figures produced a lodestar of $3,536.50. A lodestar is an estimate of reasonable fees calculated by multiplying a reasonable hourly rate by the reasonable number of hours worked.
Although the court noted that counsel had not provided support for the $720 hourly rate, it did not need to decide whether that rate was reasonable. Using lower hourly rates of $250 for attorneys and $100 for paralegals would produce a lodestar of $1,585. The proposed fee would then equal 0.52 times that lodestar, which the court found reasonable.
Ruling
The court held that the revised settlement, including the payment to Tokareva and the requested fees and costs, was fair and reasonable. Judge Edgardo Ramos GRANTED the parties’ request for approval of the Revised Agreement and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.