Pastrana v. Mr. Taco LLC
- George Daniels
- 1:18-cv-09374-GBD-SN
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Pastrana v. Mr. Taco LLC, Judge Daniels adopted the damages recommendation and ordered defendants to pay $33,161 plus interest.
Jose Pastrana and Zacarias Hernandez received a final monetary judgment against Mr. Taco LLC, Adrian Grossman, and Richard Doe. The defendants were ordered to pay the damages, interest, attorney’s fees, and costs specified by the court.
What happened
In Pastrana v. Mr. Taco LLC, Jose Pastrana and Zacarias Hernandez sought unpaid minimum and overtime wages under federal and New York law. The court had previously entered a default judgment against the defendants and sent the case for a damages calculation.
Magistrate Judge Netburn recommended awarding the plaintiffs $33,161 in damages, plus interest, attorney’s fees, and costs. Because no party objected, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error, found none, adopted it in full, and entered final judgment requiring payment of the specified amounts.
Judge George B. Daniels also stated that the defendants had waived their rights to appeal the judgment by failing to object to the recommendation.
The detailed version
- Pastrana v. Mr. Taco LLC · No. 1:18-cv-09374-GBD-SN
- George Daniels
- Nov. 10, 2022
Background
Jose Pastrana and Zacarias Hernandez sued Mr. Taco LLC doing business as Mr. Taco NYC, Adrian Grossman, and Richard Doe. They sought damages for unpaid minimum and overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The court had previously granted the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment and referred the calculation of damages, attorney’s fees, costs, and interest to Magistrate Judge Netburn.
Report and Recommendation
Magistrate Judge Netburn recommended a total award of $33,161, plus applicable prejudgment and post-judgment interest. The recommended amounts were:
- Pastrana: $6,111 in wage-and-hour damages, nine percent prejudgment interest from September 15, 2018, through the judgment date, and $6,111 in liquidated damages. - Hernandez: $8,180 in wage-and-hour and unlawful-tip-withholding damages, nine percent prejudgment interest from September 15, 2018, through the judgment date, and $8,180 in liquidated damages. - The plaintiffs: $4,014 in attorney’s fees and $565 in costs.
The recommendation also called for post-judgment interest on the total monetary judgment at the federal rate, beginning when the Clerk of Court entered judgment and continuing until payment.
Court’s Review and Ruling
No objections were filed. The court therefore reviewed the report for clear error, meaning whether the court was firmly convinced that a mistake had been made. It found no clear error and adopted Magistrate Judge Netburn’s report in full.
Judge George B. Daniels entered final judgment ordering the defendants to pay the listed amounts: $6,111 in wage-and-hour damages to Pastrana; $8,180 in wage-and-hour and unlawful-tip-withholding damages to Hernandez; $6,111 and $8,180 in liquidated damages to Pastrana and Hernandez, respectively; $4,014 in attorney’s fees; and $565 in costs, together with the specified prejudgment and post-judgment interest. The opinion states that the defendants waived their rights to appeal the judgment by failing to object to the report.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.