Enriquez v. 189 Chrystie Street Partners, LP
- Sarah Netburn
- 1:21-cv-11195
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Enriquez v. 189 Chrystie Street Partners, Judge Broderick ordered the parties to submit their FLSA settlement for fairness review.
The plaintiffs and defendants in the FLSA case, including their counsel, were required to submit the settlement terms, a fairness explanation, and any required attorney-fee documentation.
What happened
In Enriquez v. 189 Chrystie Street Partners, LP, the parties told the court they had reached a settlement of claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage-and-hour law.
The court explained that the parties could not privately settle those claims without approval from the court or the Department of Labor. It required them to provide the settlement terms and explain why the agreement was a fair and reasonable compromise, addressing five listed factors, including possible recovery, litigation risks, expected costs, bargaining, and fraud or collusion.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick ordered the parties to submit the settlement terms and a joint letter of no more than five pages within 30 days. If the agreement included attorney’s fees, they also had to provide factual support, including contemporaneous billing records.
The detailed version
- Enriquez v. 189 Chrystie Street Partners, LP · No. 1:21-cv-11195
- Sarah Netburn
- Aug. 2, 2022
Background
The parties advised the court that they had reached a settlement in this Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case. The opinion does not state the settlement amount or other settlement terms.
Court’s analysis
The court explained that FLSA claims cannot be privately settled without approval from the district court or the Department of Labor. The court therefore had to determine whether the proposed settlement was fair and reasonable.
The court stated that it would consider the totality of the circumstances, including:
- The plaintiff’s possible range of recovery;
- The extent to which settlement would help the parties avoid the burdens and expenses of proving their claims and defenses;
- The seriousness of the litigation risks;
- Whether experienced counsel reached the agreement through arm’s-length bargaining; and
- The possibility of fraud or collusion.
If the settlement included attorney’s fees, the court also had to separately assess whether those fees were reasonable. Counsel had to provide evidence establishing a factual basis for any fee award, including contemporaneous billing records showing each attorney’s date of work, hours spent, and work performed.
Order
Judge Vernon S. Broderick ordered the parties to provide the court with the settlement terms within 30 days of the order. The parties also had to submit a joint letter of no more than five pages explaining why they believed the settlement was a fair and reasonable compromise of disputed issues, including information about the five factors identified by the court. If the agreement included attorney’s fees, the parties had to submit the required factual support for those fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.