Vazquez Avila v. Derosa Sports Construction Inc.

Background

The opinion concerns a wage-and-hour case brought by Jesus Sergio Vazquez Avila, Ramon Jorge Cardozo, and Rodolfo Cisneros Ruiz against Derosa Sports Construction Inc. and Mathew Derosa. The parties participated in the Court Mediation Program, and the mediation resulted in a settlement.

The parties then consented to Magistrate Judge James L. Cott’s jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) so that he could review the settlement agreement. The order states that the parties had requested a two-week extension of an August 1 deadline set by Judge Abrams and appeared to be scheduled to file their settlement papers by August 15.

Court’s Direction

Judge Cott directed the parties to several prior rulings for guidance about settlement terms that he would not approve. The cited rulings address unreasonable restrictions on publicizing a settlement on social media, impermissible reemployment provisions, overly restrictive communications provisions, releases broader than the plaintiffs’ claims, mutual non-disparagement provisions without an exception for truthful statements, and improper confidentiality provisions or overly broad mutual releases.

The court also directed the parties to several recent settlement papers and approval orders as examples of submissions the court had approved. The order did not approve or reject the parties’ settlement agreement. It stated that the parties could seek additional time if the information affected their settlement submissions; otherwise, the court expected the papers to be filed by August 15.

Disposition

Judge James L. Cott ordered the parties to follow the stated filing schedule unless they requested additional time. The order provided guidance for the court’s future settlement review and did not make a final ruling approving the settlement.