Hernandez v. Lira of New York Inc.

Background

The plaintiffs are Orlando Mino Hernandez, Osmel Ruben Sosa Najera, Rafael Basurto Gomez, Jose Luis Mendez, Miguel Miranda, Rosalio Perez, and Angel Geovani Ramos. They sued Lira of New York Inc., doing business as Luke’s Bar & Grill, and Luigi Militelo, Tommy Tin, Jonathan Mateos, and Luigi Lusardi. The opinion states that the parties notified the court that mediation was unsuccessful.

Referral and Consent Request

By a separate order, the case was referred to Magistrate Judge Lehrburger for general pretrial matters. To conserve resources and promote efficiency, the court ordered the parties to discuss whether they would consent under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) to having Judge Lehrburger conduct all further proceedings. Such proceedings could include trial and entry of final judgment. If both sides consented, they were required to submit a fully completed consent and reference form within two weeks of the order. If the court approved the form, further proceedings would take place before the magistrate judge rather than Judge Abrams. Any appeal would go directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

If any party did not consent, the parties were required to file a joint letter within two weeks stating that they did not consent, without revealing which party or parties withheld consent. The order stated that withholding consent would not result in adverse consequences. The court also reminded the parties that settlements of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act generally must be approved by the court.

Disposition

Judge Ronnie Abrams issued a case-management order concerning referral and consent to magistrate-judge proceedings. The order did not decide the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims, rule on liability, or enter judgment. It also did not state that the case was dismissed or otherwise finally resolved.