Villanueva v. 179 Third Avenue Rest Inc.
- Alison Nathan
- 1:16-cv-08782
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Villanueva v. 179 Third Avenue Rest. Inc., Judge Nathan awarded plaintiffs $1,717,215.80 in damages, fees, and costs, plus prejudgment interest.
The plaintiffs and defendants in the case; the award requires the defendants to pay the amount set by the court, with additional prejudgment interest calculated by the Clerk.
What happened
In Villanueva v. 179 Third Avenue Rest. Inc., the court had already granted the plaintiffs’ request for a judgment because the defendants did not defend the case. The court referred the question of damages to Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger, who prepared a report recommending how much the plaintiffs should receive.
No one objected to the report by the deadline. The court therefore reviewed it only for obvious error and found none. The report calculated damages, fees, costs, and prejudgment interest on unpaid wages for the plaintiffs.
Judge Alison J. Nathan adopted the report in its entirety. The court awarded the plaintiffs a total of $1,717,215.80 in damages, fees, and costs, plus prejudgment interest on unpaid wages to be calculated by the Clerk of Court, and directed the Clerk to close the case.
The detailed version
- Villanueva v. 179 Third Avenue Rest Inc. · No. 1:16-cv-08782
- Alison Nathan
- May 26, 2021
Background
On September 30, 2019, the court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment against 179 Third Avenue Rest. Inc. and 603 Second Ave Corp. The court then referred the issue of damages to Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger for an inquest, meaning a proceeding to determine the amount owed. Judge Lehrburger filed a Report and Recommendation on September 3, 2020, containing calculations of the damages owed to the plaintiffs.
Standard of Review
A district court may accept, reject, or modify a magistrate judge’s report. When no timely objections are filed, the district court reviews the report for clear error—an obvious mistake apparent from the record. No objections were filed, and the deadline for objections had passed. Judge Nathan therefore reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error and found none.
Ruling
The court adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. It awarded the plaintiffs damages, fees, and costs totaling $1,717,215.80, plus prejudgment interest on unpaid wages as determined by the Clerk of Court. The plaintiffs’ counsel was directed to coordinate with the Clerk to provide the information needed to calculate prejudgment interest for each plaintiff. The Clerk was directed to close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.