Reyes Silva v. Legend Upper West LLC
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:16-cv-03552-PGG-KHP
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 6
In Reyes Silva v. Legend Upper West, Judge Gardephe adopted the recommendation awarding plaintiffs interest, $41,905 in fees, $5,293.90 in costs, and closing the case.
The named plaintiffs received prejudgment interest, post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs. The ruling concerned the remaining monetary issues after liability and damages had already been decided against the defendants.
What happened
In Reyes Silva v. Legend Upper West LLC, the plaintiffs sued over alleged unpaid wages under federal and New York wage laws. The court had already entered default judgment against two defendants and found Min Xing Wang liable for damages after a bench trial.
A magistrate judge recommended awards of prejudgment interest, post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs. Because neither side objected, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error and found none.
Judge Paul G. Gardephe adopted the recommendation in full. The court awarded the specified prejudgment-interest amounts, post-judgment interest at the federal rate from entry of judgment until payment, $41,905 in attorneys’ fees, and $5,293.90 in costs, and directed the Clerk to enter judgment and close the case.
The detailed version
- Reyes Silva v. Legend Upper West LLC · No. 1:16-cv-03552-PGG-KHP
- Paul Gardephe
- Sept. 22, 2022
Background
The plaintiffs brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law concerning alleged unpaid regular and overtime wages, spread-of-hours pay, liquidated damages, wage statements, interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs. The opinion states that several plaintiffs worked as delivery workers and dishwashers at the Legend Upper West restaurant. Panfilo Espinobarros’s claims had previously been dismissed.
The court entered a default judgment against Legend Upper West Side LLC and Dinggen Wang in April 2018 after they did not oppose the request or appear at the scheduled hearing. Following an August 2018 bench trial against Min Xing Wang, the court found for the plaintiffs on all claims except the New York Labor Law claim concerning unauthorized deductions. The court found Min Xing Wang liable for $449,076 in damages in total.
Report and Recommendation
The court referred the remaining issues concerning prejudgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs to Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker. Judge Parker recommended prejudgment-interest awards of $28,879.23 for J. Silva, $40,145.68 for S. Silva, $18,550.03 for Candia, $14,742 for Galindo, and $8,203.23 for Rogelio. She also recommended $41,905 in attorneys’ fees and $5,293.90 in costs.
For post-judgment interest, Judge Parker recommended using the federal rate under 28 U.S.C. § 1961, calculated from the date the Clerk enters judgment until payment. The report gave the parties fourteen days to object and warned that failing to object would waive judicial review for purposes of appeal. Neither side filed objections.
Court’s Ruling
Because there were no objections, Judge Gardephe reviewed the report for clear error on the face of the record. He found the report thorough, well-reasoned, and free of clear error, and adopted it in its entirety.
The court awarded each plaintiff the recommended prejudgment-interest amount, post-judgment interest at the federal rate from entry of judgment until payment, $41,905 in attorneys’ fees, and $5,293.90 in costs. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.