Wood v. Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:20-cv-02489
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Wood v. Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc., Judge Swain approved dismissal with prejudice of Oram and Smith’s Fair Labor Standards Act claims.
Plaintiffs Oram and Smith, whose Fair Labor Standards Act claims were dismissed with prejudice, and Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc.
What happened
In Wood v. Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc., the court considered a joint request to approve a stipulation dismissing Plaintiffs Oram and Smith’s claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Their lawyers represented that the dismissal was not part of a settlement.
The court explained that dismissals settling Fair Labor Standards Act claims generally require court or Department of Labor approval. Because Oram and Smith sought dismissal with prejudice under the rule governing agreed dismissals, the court determined that approval was required even though the parties said there was no settlement.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain approved and ordered entry of the stipulation. The court relied on the parties’ representations that the plaintiffs had missed discovery deadlines, had been warned that failure to meet those deadlines could lead to dismissal, and did not intend to participate in written discovery. The parties also agreed to pay their own attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs.
The detailed version
- Wood v. Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-02489
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 12, 2023
Background
The court reviewed a joint letter from counsel for Mike Bloomberg 2020, Inc. and counsel for Plaintiffs Oram and Smith. The parties asked the court to approve and enter a proposed stipulation dismissing Oram and Smith’s Fair Labor Standards Act claims with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). A dismissal with prejudice bars those claims from being brought again. The parties represented that the stipulation was not the result of a settlement of Fair Labor Standards Act claims.
Court’s Analysis
The court discussed the Second Circuit’s decision in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc., which held that stipulated dismissals settling Fair Labor Standards Act claims with prejudice require approval by the district court or the Department of Labor. The parties also relied on Samake v. Thunder Lube, Inc., where the Second Circuit addressed a notice of dismissal without prejudice and explained that a court should determine whether the parties had reached a settlement. If there was no settlement, the dismissal notice could be approved; if there was a settlement, the court would review its fairness.
The court distinguished Samake because Oram and Smith had submitted a proposed stipulated dismissal with prejudice under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), rather than a notice of dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i). The court therefore concluded that the proposed dismissal required court approval.
Ruling
The court approved and ordered entry of the stipulation of dismissal. In reaching that decision, it considered the parties’ representations that the plaintiffs had not complied with discovery deadlines, had been warned by court order that failing to meet those deadlines could result in dismissal, and had told their counsel that they did not intend to participate in written discovery and agreed to withdraw their claims with prejudice. The court also noted that the parties agreed to bear their own attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs. The order addressed the claims of Oram and Smith and did not state a disposition of the other plaintiffs’ claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.