Batista v. Made in Mexico Uptown Corp

Background

Cynthia Batista sued Made in Mexico Uptown Corp., Made in Mexico Harlem Corp., Henry Bourdier, and Ismael Garcia under the Fair Labor Standards Act and related provisions of New York law. She alleged that she worked for the defendants as a waitress or cashier from approximately April 2015 through July 2021. She primarily worked at Made in Mexico Uptown Corp. and also worked at Made in Mexico Harlem Corp. during various periods.

Batista alleged that the defendants did not pay her wages for her hours worked and that she received only tips from customers, totaling approximately $800 per week. She also alleged that the defendants failed to pay the required minimum wage and overtime wages, including for work exceeding 40 hours per week and for work exceeding 10 hours in a day. She alleged that the defendants did not keep records of her working time.

Default and liability

The corporate defendants were served on October 22, 2021, and the individual defendants were served before December 9, 2021. None of the defendants appeared, answered, or otherwise responded to the complaint. The clerk entered certificates of default against all four defendants on February 4, 2022. Batista later served her default-judgment papers again after the court identified a missing proof-of-service requirement, but the defendants still did not respond.

A default judgment is a judgment entered when a defendant fails to plead or otherwise defend. The court explained that a default generally admits the complaint’s well-pleaded factual allegations, but the court must still determine whether those allegations establish legal liability. Here, the court concluded that the allegations established the defendants’ liability as a matter of law.

Damages and ruling

Batista sought monetary relief and attorney’s fees, rather than the injunctive relief also requested in the complaint. The court found that her damages calculations were adequately and correctly based on the uncontested allegations about her work hours, work frequency, and lack of compensation.

Judge Oetken granted Batista’s motion for default judgment. The court awarded judgment against Made in Mexico Uptown Corp., Made in Mexico Harlem Corp., Henry Bourdier, and Ismael Garcia for $325,558.75, plus prejudgment interest at 9% per year from August 26, 2018, through the date of judgment, and $3,679.00 in costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. The clerk was directed to enter judgment, close the motion, and mark the case closed.