Quituisaca Tapia v. Nations Roof East LLC
- Barbara Moses
- 1:21-cv-01358
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Quituisaca Tapia v. Nations Roof East LLC, Judge Moses vacated deadlines and required filings to support review of the parties’ FLSA settlement.
The parties to the settled wage-and-hour dispute and their counsel, including anyone seeking attorneys’ fees and costs.
What happened
In Quituisaca Tapia v. Nations Roof East LLC, the parties settled their dispute, including claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. They also agreed that Judge Barbara Moses would handle the remaining proceedings.
The court vacated all previously set deadlines and ordered the parties to submit a joint explanation of why the settlement was fair, the signed written settlement agreement, and materials supporting any request for attorneys’ fees and costs by March 31, 2022. The court did not approve the settlement in this order.
Judge Moses also cautioned that wage-and-hour settlements generally should not include inappropriate confidentiality terms, overbroad non-disparagement provisions, or one-sided general releases, and that any fees and costs must be supported and explained.
The detailed version
- Quituisaca Tapia v. Nations Roof East LLC · No. 1:21-cv-01358
- Barbara Moses
- Mar. 16, 2022
Background
Digno Quituisaca Tapia brought the action individually and on behalf of others similarly situated against Nations Roof East, LLC, doing business as Nations Roof East LLC, and other defendants. The opinion states that the parties settled their dispute, including claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The parties then consented to Judge Moses’s authority over the remaining proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
Order
The court vacated all deadlines previously set in the action. It ordered the parties to submit by March 31, 2022: (1) a joint letter explaining why the settlement was fair and reasonable under the factors identified in Wolinsky v. Scholastic Inc.; (2) a written settlement agreement signed by all parties, which would be placed on the public docket; and (3) any contingency-fee agreement and counsel’s time and expense records needed to support a request for attorneys’ fees and costs.
Settlement-approval guidance
The court cautioned that confidentiality provisions are rarely appropriate in resolving an FLSA wage-and-hour lawsuit. It also warned that a non-disparagement clause should not prevent a plaintiff from making truthful statements about the plaintiff’s employment, the lawsuit, or the settlement. In addition, the court stated that it ordinarily refuses to approve FLSA settlements containing one-way or overbroad general releases.
The court further explained that its fairness review includes the reasonableness of attorneys’ fees and costs. Any proposed fee award had to be included in the written settlement agreement, supported by properly authenticated records, and accompanied by a detailed explanation, including the degree of success obtained.
Disposition
Judge Barbara Moses vacated the existing deadlines and ordered the specified settlement-approval materials. This order did not approve or reject the settlement.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.