Lluilema Garcia v. Francis General Construction Inc.

Background

Jose Antonio Lluilema Garcia brought a wage-and-hour action against Francis General Construction Inc. and Francisco Peralta. The opinion states that Garcia worked for Francis General Construction from about 2007 through September 9, 2019, and that Peralta owned the company and was Garcia’s boss. Garcia testified that he worked long hours, was paid a flat daily rate, and did not receive pay statements.

Garcia’s amended complaint asserted seven claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law, including claims for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime, spread-of-hours pay, missing wage notices, and missing wage statements. The defendants did not respond to the amended complaint or appear after an earlier hearing, except that Peralta appeared without a lawyer at one prior hearing. On January 20, 2022, the court found both defendants liable on all seven causes of action by default and reserved the amounts of damages, attorney fees, and costs for later determination.

Damages

Because liability had already been established by default, the court held an evidentiary hearing to determine damages. It credited Garcia’s testimony and sworn statements about his hours and pay because the defendants had not produced time records. The court found that Garcia generally worked seven days per week during the warmer months and six days per week during the colder months, with one missed workday per month because of rain or snow, and that he was paid $180 per day during the relevant period.

The court calculated overtime under New York Labor Law using Garcia’s weekly earnings divided by his weekly hours, while applying the applicable minimum wage when that calculation produced a lower regular rate. It awarded $81,156.67 in unpaid overtime wages. It declined to award the separately requested $3,000 for two allegedly unpaid weeks because Garcia offered no evidence supporting that claim. The court also noted that Garcia no longer sought minimum-wage or spread-of-hours damages.

The court awarded $81,156.67 in liquidated damages, equal to the unpaid overtime, because the defendants’ default left them unable to rebut the presumption that liquidated damages were owed. It awarded $5,000 for the failure to provide the required wage notice at hiring and $5,000 for the failure to provide wage statements. It directed the Clerk to calculate pre-judgment interest at nine percent per year on the $81,156.67 overtime award from January 15, 2017, through the date of judgment, excluding liquidated damages from that interest calculation. Post-judgment interest was also awarded at the statutory rate.

Attorney Fees and Costs

Garcia’s counsel requested $32,449.50 in attorney fees and $296.20 in costs. The court found the requested hourly rates excessive and reduced them to $300 per hour for John Troy, $150 for Aaron Schweitzer, $150 for Tiffany Troy, $100 for Maggie Huang, and $70 for Preethi Kilaru. It also reduced the billed hours by one-third because the work was excessive, duplicative, and contained errors. The resulting fee award was $9,881.40. The court awarded the full $296.20 in requested costs.

Ruling

Judge John P. Cronan directed the Clerk to enter judgment for Garcia against Francis General Construction Inc. and Francisco Peralta for $81,156.67 in overtime wages, $81,156.67 in liquidated damages, pre-judgment interest on the overtime award, $5,000 in pay-statement damages, $5,000 in hiring-notice damages, $9,881.40 in attorney fees, $296.20 in costs, and post-judgment interest. The Clerk was also directed to close pending motions and the case.