Garcia v. ABM Industry Groups, LLC

Background

Adalinda Garcia, Levis Barrientos, Jonathan Barrientos, Sterling Barrientos, and Ronald Balbuena brought this Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) action against ABM Industry Groups, LLC, and ABM Industries Incorporated. The opinion states that the five named plaintiffs proceeded individually only for purposes of the settlement agreements. The parties disputed the number of overtime hours worked and the wages paid.

Plaintiffs’ counsel filed original settlement agreements on July 18, 2022. On July 21, 2022, the court denied approval of those agreements without prejudice to refiling because they contained a non-mutual nondisparagement provision. On July 26, 2022, counsel filed revised agreements after the parties removed that provision entirely.

Court’s Analysis

The court considered the parties’ positions about the value of the claims, the risks and costs of continued litigation, the plaintiffs’ representation by counsel, and the fact that the plaintiffs no longer worked for the defendants. It also considered that the revised agreements contained no confidentiality or nondisparagement clause, reflected a genuine dispute about overtime hours and wages, and were intended to resolve the action and avoid further litigation costs and uncertainty.

The court further noted that the release in paragraph 5(A) was limited to wage-and-hour claims. It found that the revised agreements were fair and reasonable and resulted from arm’s-length negotiations rather than fraud or collusion. The court also found the attorneys’ fees—one-third of the plaintiffs’ net recovery—to be fair and reasonable under the circumstances.

Disposition

The court approved the revised proposed settlement agreements. It dismissed the action without prejudice to the right to restore it to the court’s calendar, provided any request to restore was filed no later than August 29, 2022. The court instructed the Clerk to close the case.