Chalas v. Nutradried Food Company, LLC
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-03916
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
After the parties reported an agreement in principle, Judge Caproni dismissed Chalas v. Nutradried Food Company, LLC with prejudice and without costs, without binding putative class members.
Ana Chalas and Nutradried Food Company, LLC were bound by the dismissal. Any settlement did not bind absent putative class members.
What happened
In Chalas v. Nutradried Food Company, LLC, the parties told the court they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues. The court canceled the scheduled conferences and other deadlines.
The court dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, and directed the Clerk to close the case. The parties could ask to reopen it within 30 days by showing good cause. Any settlement applied only between Ana Chalas and Nutradried and did not bind absent putative class members because the parties had not told the court they intended to follow the rule governing class settlements.
Judge Valerie Caproni also directed the Clerk to remove the class-action language from the case caption. The parties could ask the court within 30 days to retain authority to enforce their settlement agreement, but they had to submit the agreement and make that request.
The detailed version
- Chalas v. Nutradried Food Company, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-03916
- Valerie Caproni
- Aug. 30, 2022
Background
On August 29, 2022, the parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues. The opinion does not describe the agreement’s terms.
Court’s Orders
The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate all open motions and close the case.
The parties could apply to reopen the case within 30 days. The application had to show good cause for keeping the case open despite the settlement. The order states that a request filed after 30 days or without a showing of good cause could be denied solely on that basis.
If the parties wanted the court to retain jurisdiction—the authority to enforce the settlement agreement—they had to submit the agreement and request an order expressly retaining that authority within the same 30-day period.
Class Allegations
The court directed the Clerk to remove the language “individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated” from Ana Chalas’s name in the caption. Because the parties had not notified the court that they intended to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e), the dismissal and any settlement applied only between Chalas and Nutradried Food Company, LLC. They did not bind absent putative class members.
Disposition
The court dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, canceled the scheduled proceedings and deadlines, directed the case’s closure, and allowed a possible application to reopen within 30 days under the stated conditions.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.