Camargo v. Good Nature, Inc.

Background

The court was advised that the parties had reached a settlement in the case, including claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law governing certain wage and hour rights. The order set out procedures the parties had to follow to resolve the case. It did not state the settlement’s terms and did not itself approve the settlement or dismiss the case.

Available Procedures

The court described three alternatives:

1. Court approval for dismissal with prejudice. A dismissal with prejudice would permanently end the FLSA claims. The court explained that, under the Second Circuit’s decision in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc., the parties could not use the ordinary voluntary-dismissal procedure to dismiss FLSA claims with prejudice. They instead had to seek approval under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2).

The parties first had to discuss whether they would consent to having all further proceedings handled by the assigned magistrate judge. If both consented, they had to file the required consent form by March 9, 2022. If either party did not consent, the parties had to file a joint letter by that date without identifying who withheld consent. The order stated that withholding consent would not have negative consequences.

If the parties did not consent to proceed before the magistrate judge, they had to submit a joint motion by March 16, 2022 explaining why the settlement was fair and should be approved. The motion had to address the factors identified in Wolinsky v. Scholastic Inc. and include the settlement agreement. The court stated that it would not approve settlement agreements containing confidentiality provisions and would not seal settlement-review materials without a particularized showing overcoming the presumption of public access. If the settlement included attorney’s fees, the motion also had to address whether the fees were reasonable and include the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ detailed time records.

2. Dismissal without prejudice if there was no FLSA settlement. The parties could submit a voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(A) if the FLSA claims were dismissed without prejudice and the parties certified that there had been no settlement of those claims. The order required that filing and certification by March 9, 2022. If the parties could not make that certification, they had to seek court review of the settlement under the first procedure.

3. Offer of judgment. The parties could resolve the case through an offer and acceptance of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68(a). The order stated that the Second Circuit had held that court approval was not required for a Rule 68(a) offer of judgment in an action raising FLSA claims. Any executed offer and acceptance, along with a proposed judgment order, had to be submitted by March 9, 2022.

Disposition

The court ordered the parties to proceed through one of the three described alternatives. This was a procedural order concerning settlement and dismissal procedures; the text does not show that the court ruled on the underlying wage claims, approved the settlement, dismissed the claims, or entered judgment.