Dalmau v. 1084 NY Ave LLC
- Barbara Moses
- 1:21-cv-04407
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Dalmau v. 1084 NY Ave. LLC, Judge Vyskocil required settlement information and a fairness hearing before deciding whether to approve the FLSA settlement.
The plaintiff, the defendants, and the plaintiff’s attorney are affected. The parties must submit a joint letter addressing the proposed Fair Labor Standards Act settlement, and the parties including the plaintiff must attend the scheduled fairness hearing.
What happened
In Dalmau v. 1084 NY Ave. LLC, the plaintiff told the court that the parties had reached a settlement in principle. Because the complaint included claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the court said it had to review and approve the settlement.
The court ordered the parties to submit a joint letter by May 19, 2022, explaining why the proposed settlement was fair and reasonable. The letter must address the possible recovery, avoided litigation costs, litigation risks, whether the agreement resulted from arm’s-length negotiations, possible fraud or collusion, any genuine dispute about hours or compensation, and the attorney’s requested fees.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil also ordered the parties, including the plaintiff personally, to attend a teleconference fairness hearing on May 31, 2022. The court did not approve the settlement in this order, warned that noncompliance could lead to sanctions, and postponed the other deadlines and appearances indefinitely.
The detailed version
- Dalmau v. 1084 NY Ave LLC · No. 1:21-cv-04407
- Barbara Moses
- Apr. 19, 2022
Background
Juan Mejia Dalmau sued 1084 NY Ave. LLC, Iris Holdings Group NY LLC, Liberty Place Property Management LLC, Marc Blumenfrucht, and Shay Hart, also known as Shaya Hirtz. The complaint asserted claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal law governing matters including wages and working hours. The plaintiff informed the court that the parties had reached a settlement in principle.
Because the case included Fair Labor Standards Act claims, the court explained that a judge or the United States Department of Labor must approve the settlement. The court must examine whether the proposed agreement is fair and whether it is a reasonable compromise of disputed issues rather than an employer’s improper waiver of statutory rights.
Court’s Order
The court ordered the parties to file a joint letter by May 19, 2022, explaining why the proposed settlement was fair and reasonable. The parties were directed to discuss:
- the plaintiff’s possible range of recovery; - the litigation burdens and expenses the settlement would avoid; - the seriousness of the risks faced by the parties; - whether experienced counsel negotiated the agreement at arm’s length; and - the possibility of fraud or collusion.
The letter also had to address whether there was a genuine dispute about the number of hours worked or the amount of compensation owed, and how much the plaintiff’s attorney would seek in fees. The court stated that, absent special circumstances, it would not approve a settlement filed under seal or in redacted form.
The court further ordered the parties, including Dalmau personally, to appear by telephone for a fairness hearing on May 31, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. Defendants could attend but were not required to do so. If Dalmau did not speak English, he had to provide his own interpreter. The court postponed all other filing deadlines and appearance dates indefinitely and warned that failure to comply with the order or submit the required joint letter could result in sanctions.
Disposition
This order did not approve or reject the proposed settlement. It required additional information and scheduled a hearing so the court could evaluate the settlement’s fairness. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil entered the order on April 19, 2022.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.