Hernandez v. Yours Wholesome Foods, Inc.
- Stewart Aaron
- 1:22-cv-03011
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Hernandez v. Yours Wholesome Foods, Judge Broderick ordered the parties to submit their FLSA settlement for fairness review.
The parties to the FLSA case, including Carlos Hernandez and Yours Wholesome Foods, Inc., et al., must submit the settlement materials and any fee-supporting records required by the order.
What happened
In Hernandez v. Yours Wholesome Foods, the parties told the court they had settled a wage case under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law governing minimum wages and overtime. The court explained that this kind of settlement requires approval by the court or the Department of Labor.
The court ordered the parties to submit the settlement terms within 30 days, along with a joint letter of no more than five pages explaining why the agreement was fair and reasonable. The explanation must address factors including the plaintiff’s possible recovery, litigation burdens and risks, the parties’ negotiations, and possible fraud or collusion.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick also ordered the parties to provide supporting records for any attorney-fee request, including contemporaneous billing records identifying each attorney’s dates, hours, and work. The order did not approve or reject the settlement.
The detailed version
- Hernandez v. Yours Wholesome Foods, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-03011
- Stewart Aaron
- July 29, 2022
Background
The parties informed the court that they had reached a settlement in this case under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law governing minimum wages and overtime. The court stated that FLSA claims cannot be privately settled without approval from the district court or the Department of Labor.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that it must determine whether the settlement is fair and reasonable by considering the total circumstances. The listed factors include the plaintiff’s possible recovery; the extent to which settlement would avoid the burdens and expenses of proving the claims and defenses; the seriousness of the litigation risks; whether experienced counsel negotiated the agreement at arm’s length; and the possibility of fraud or collusion.
The court also stated that any attorney-fee provision must be assessed separately. To support a fee award, counsel must provide factual evidence, including contemporaneous billing records showing, for each attorney, the date, hours worked, and nature of the work.
Order
The court ordered the parties to provide the settlement terms within 30 days so the court could determine whether they complied with the FLSA and reflected a reasonable compromise of disputed issues. The parties also had to submit a joint letter of no more than five pages explaining why the settlement was fair and reasonable, including information about the five listed factors. If the agreement included attorney’s fees, the parties had to submit evidence supporting the requested award. The order did not approve or reject the settlement.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.