Bland v. Doyle
- Alison Nathan
- 1:20-cv-03226
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Bland v. Doyle, Judge Nathan approved a wage-and-hour settlement except its overly broad general release and closed the case.
Sebastian Bland, Billion Dollar Boy, Inc., Permele Doyle, and the other defendants are affected by the court's approval of the settlement, including its restriction of the general release.
What happened
In Bland v. Doyle, Sebastian Bland, a former business development director for Billion Dollar Boy, Inc., alleged that the company wrongly treated him as exempt and failed to pay overtime required by federal law. The parties reached a settlement during discovery for $20,000, and Bland's attorneys were paid hourly rather than from the settlement.
The court found that the settlement amount was reasonable considering Bland's possible recovery, the risks and costs of continuing the case, and the parties' agreement. It also approved a provision barring untrue statements, while emphasizing that Bland could make truthful statements about his experience and the lawsuit. The court rejected the general release because it covered unrelated discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims.
Judge Alison J. Nathan approved the settlement except for the general release, which could be enforced only as to claims related to the wage-and-hour issues in the case. Because the agreement allowed the offending provision to be severed, the court did not require a new agreement and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Bland v. Doyle · No. 1:20-cv-03226
- Alison Nathan
- Aug. 9, 2021
Background
Sebastian Bland, a former business development director for Billion Dollar Boy, Inc., sued Permele Doyle and other defendants. He alleged that the company misclassified him as an exempt employee and therefore failed to pay overtime required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 203 et seq. The parties reached a settlement during discovery for a total payment of $20,000. Bland paid his attorneys by the hour, so the settlement did not deduct attorney's fees.
Legal standard
Under the FLSA, a court or the Department of Labor must approve a settlement of FLSA claims. The court must determine whether the agreement is fair and reasonable by considering the total circumstances, including the employee's possible recovery, the costs and burdens of continued litigation, the risks faced by the parties, whether experienced counsel negotiated at arm's length, and the possibility of fraud or collusion.
Court's analysis
The court found the $20,000 settlement reasonable in light of Bland's claimed unpaid overtime of $17,230.26, his claim for up to $10,000 in statutory damages under New York law for wage-notice and wage-statement violations, and the risks and expenses of further litigation. The company disputed that Bland was misclassified and disputed that his wage statements were inadequate. Because Bland's attorneys were not receiving fees from the settlement, the court did not separately evaluate the fairness of a fee award.
The court approved the agreement's non-disparagement provision. The provision applied only to statements that were not true. The court emphasized that the agreement could not restrict Bland's truthful statements or his ability to discuss his experience litigating the case.
The court rejected the general release as overly broad. It extended beyond the wage-and-hour claims at issue and expressly included claims relating to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. The court held that the release could be enforced only as to claims related to the wage-and-hour issues in this case.
Disposition
The agreement contained a severability provision allowing the remaining terms to be enforced if a provision violated public policy. The court therefore approved the proposed settlement except for the general release and did not require the parties to submit a new agreement. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.