Tavarez-Vargas v. Seeds Beauty Products LLC
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:21-cv-10796
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Tavarez-Vargas v. Seeds Beauty Products, Judge Caproni dismissed the settled case with prejudice and without costs, without binding absent putative class members.
Carmen Tavarez-Vargas and Seeds Beauty Products LLC were affected by the dismissal and any settlement. Absent putative class members were not bound by them.
What happened
In Tavarez-Vargas v. Seeds Beauty Products LLC, the parties told the court they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues.
The court canceled scheduled conferences and deadlines, terminated open motions, and directed the Clerk to close the case. The dismissal was with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party.
Judge Valerie Caproni allowed the parties 30 days to seek reopening for good cause or to ask the court to retain power to enforce their settlement. Because the parties did not follow the procedure for settling a class action, the dismissal and any settlement applied only between Carmen Tavarez-Vargas and Seeds Beauty Products LLC and did not bind absent putative class members.
The detailed version
- Tavarez-Vargas v. Seeds Beauty Products LLC · No. 1:21-cv-10796
- Valerie Caproni
- June 30, 2022
Background
Carmen Tavarez-Vargas sued Seeds Beauty Products LLC individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated. The parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues.
Court’s Order
The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate all open motions and close the case.
The parties could apply within 30 days to reopen the case, but such an application had to show good cause for keeping the case open in light of the settlement. The parties could also ask the court to retain jurisdiction—the court’s authority to enforce the settlement—by submitting the settlement agreement and a request for an order expressly retaining that authority within the same 30-day period.
The court directed the Clerk to remove the language identifying Tavarez-Vargas as suing on behalf of similarly situated people. Because the parties had not notified the court that they intended to follow the federal procedure for approving a class-action settlement, the dismissal and any settlement applied only between Tavarez-Vargas and Seeds Beauty Products LLC. They did not bind absent putative class members.
Disposition
Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, directed that the case be closed, and specified that absent putative class members were not bound by the dismissal or any settlement.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.