De Jesus v. P&N Cuisine Inc.

Background

The plaintiffs previously obtained a partial default judgment against P&N Cuisine Inc. and Nimnual Likituarin. On June 10, 2021, the court granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment and referred the case for an inquiry into damages and attorneys’ fees.

Magistrate Judge Willis issued a July 13, 2022 Report and Recommendation. It recommended awarding the plaintiffs $135,942.00 in damages against the defaulting defendants, plus prejudgment interest, and $3,300.00 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The opinion identifies components of the recommended damages as unpaid wages, unpaid spread-of-hours pay, violations of New York wage-notice and wage-statement requirements, unlawful deductions, and liquidated damages. The excerpt does not provide the complete itemization of the total award.

Review of the Recommendation

No party filed objections. Because there were no objections, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake in the record. The court found no error and adopted Judge Willis’s Report and Recommendation in its entirety.

The court also addressed the recommendation to award fees for work performed by one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Michael Faillace, who had been temporarily suspended from practicing law. It found no clear error in awarding those fees because his work predated the suspension and he had left the law firm then representing the plaintiffs.

Ruling

Judge Ronnie Abrams awarded the plaintiffs $135,942.00 in damages against the defaulting defendants, plus prejudgment interest as calculated by the Clerk of Court, and $3,300.00 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The court directed the Clerk to enter judgment for the plaintiffs and close the case.