Carrillo v. Kay Waterproofing Corp.
- John Cronan
- 1:19-cv-01365-JPC
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Andrews Carrillo v. Monster Construction: Judge Cronan required confirmation of no settlement before addressing dismissal of Eric Hermosillo under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The plaintiffs and Defendant Eric Hermosillo. The plaintiffs had sought to voluntarily dismiss their claims against Hermosillo without prejudice, and the court required them to confirm whether a settlement existed before proceeding.
What happened
In Andrews Carrillo v. Monster Construction, the plaintiffs said they had repeatedly failed to serve Eric Hermosillo and asked to end their claims against him without prejudice. They then filed a notice of voluntary dismissal concerning Hermosillo.
The court explained that it must check whether the parties reached a settlement of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, even when a dismissal is filed without prejudice. If there was a settlement, the court would review whether it was fair.
Judge Cronan ordered the plaintiffs to file a letter by July 20, 2022, confirming whether they had reached a settlement with Hermosillo. The order did not itself approve or reject the dismissal.
The detailed version
- Carrillo v. Kay Waterproofing Corp. · No. 1:19-cv-01365-JPC
- John Cronan
- July 15, 2022
Background
The plaintiffs told the court that they had made multiple unsuccessful attempts to serve Defendant Eric Hermosillo with the summons and amended complaint. They asked to discontinue the action without prejudice against Hermosillo so they could proceed with their claims against defendants who had been served. The plaintiffs then filed a notice of voluntary dismissal as to Hermosillo under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i).
Legal issue
The court considered whether it could require information about a possible settlement before treating the notice of dismissal as effective. Under Second Circuit precedent, a district court retains authority to review settlements of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, including settlements connected to dismissals without prejudice. If a settlement exists, the court must review its fairness; if no settlement exists, the dismissal notice may be formally approved by the court.
Ruling and effect
The court ordered the plaintiffs to file a letter by July 20, 2022, confirming that no settlement had been reached between the plaintiffs and Hermosillo. The order did not itself approve or reject the notice of voluntary dismissal and did not conduct a fairness review. The opinion is signed by Judge John P. Cronan.
Note on the supplied case name
The supplied case name was “Carrillo v. Kay Waterproofing Corp.,” but the opinion caption identifies the case as “Andrews Carrillo et al. v. Monster Construction LLC (D/B/A Monster Construction) et al.”
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.