Sinanaj v. Alma Realty Corp.
- Barbara Moses
- 1:22-cv-08611
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sinanaj v. Alma Realty Corp., Judge Moses directed the parties to submit materials for review of their settled Fair Labor Standards Act claims.
Enver Sinanaj, Alma Realty Corp., the other defendants, and their counsel, because the order sets the materials and conditions for seeking approval of their FLSA settlement.
What happened
In Sinanaj v. Alma Realty Corp., the parties told the court that they had settled their dispute, including claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court had been directed to receive a settlement-approval motion by April 6, 2023, and the parties agreed that Judge Moses would handle the remaining proceedings.
The court required the settlement-approval motion to include a joint explanation of why the agreement is fair and reasonable, the signed written agreement, and supporting records for any requested attorneys’ fees and costs. The opinion does not state the settlement amount or approve the settlement.
Judge Moses also cautioned that confidentiality terms, overly broad non-disparagement provisions, and one-sided or overly broad releases may prevent approval of a Fair Labor Standards Act settlement. She further stated that any fee request must be included in the written agreement and supported by authenticated records and a detailed explanation.
The detailed version
- Sinanaj v. Alma Realty Corp. · No. 1:22-cv-08611
- Barbara Moses
- Mar. 24, 2023
Background
The parties had settled their dispute, including claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law governing minimum wages, overtime, and related workplace protections. Judge Jesse M. Furman had directed the parties to file a motion seeking approval of the settlement by April 6, 2023. The parties then consented to Judge Barbara Moses’s authority over the remaining proceedings.
Required settlement materials
Judge Moses directed the parties to include three items with their settlement-approval motion:
- A joint letter explaining why the settlement is fair and reasonable under the factors used by courts in this district.
- A written settlement agreement signed by all parties, which would be placed on the public docket.
- Any contingency-fee agreement and counsel’s time and expense records needed to support a request for attorneys’ fees and costs.
Court’s cautions
The court cautioned that confidentiality provisions are rarely appropriate in resolving wage-and-hour lawsuits because of the policy concerns underlying the FLSA. The same caution applies to non-disparagement provisions that would prevent the plaintiff from making truthful statements about his employment, the lawsuit, or the settlement.
The court also cautioned that courts in the district ordinarily refuse to approve FLSA settlements containing one-sided or overly broad general releases. Any proposed award of attorneys’ fees and costs must be stated in the written settlement agreement, which must be personally signed by the parties, and supported by properly authenticated fee and expense records. The parties must also provide a detailed explanation for the requested award, with the degree of success obtained identified as the most important factor in assessing reasonableness.
Disposition
The order directed the parties to submit the specified materials for settlement review. It did not approve or reject the settlement, and it did not state the settlement’s terms or amount.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.