Caba v. Easy Pickins, Inc.
- John Cronan
- 1:22-cv-09626
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Caba v. Easy Pickins, Judge Cronan approved a $7,000 wage settlement and denied the defendant’s dismissal motion without prejudice as moot.
Christine Caba and Jofeny Duran will receive the settlement payments stated in the agreement; Easy Pickins, Inc. will resolve the wage-and-hour claims under the approved settlement; and plaintiffs’ counsel will receive the approved fees and expenses.
What happened
Christine Caba and Jofeny Duran sued Easy Pickins, Inc., alleging unpaid overtime and other violations of federal and New York wage laws. They also alleged failures involving spread-of-hours pay, wage notices, and accurate wage statements.
The parties agreed to settle all claims for $7,000, including attorney’s fees and expenses. Under the agreement, Caba would receive $2,835, Duran would receive $1,500, and counsel would receive $2,165 in fees plus $500 in expenses.
Judge John P. Cronan approved the settlement after reviewing its fairness. He found the attorney’s fees reasonable but made no finding about counsel’s hourly rate or the reasonableness of particular hours worked. He denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss without prejudice as moot and directed the clerk to close the relevant docket entries and the case.
The detailed version
- Caba v. Easy Pickins, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-09626
- John Cronan
- May 25, 2023
Background
Christine Caba and Jofeny Duran brought claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. They alleged that Easy Pickins, Inc. violated wage-and-hour laws by failing to pay overtime and spread-of-hours compensation, and by failing to provide required wage notices and accurate wage statements. The opinion does not resolve whether those alleged violations occurred.
The parties jointly submitted a written settlement agreement for court approval. They agreed to resolve all claims for a total payment of $7,000, including attorney’s fees and litigation expenses. The plaintiffs’ counsel calculated potential unpaid wages of approximately $2,000 for Caba and $1,200 for Duran, as well as $10,000 in statutory penalties for each plaintiff based on the alleged wage-notice and wage-statement violations. The plaintiffs accepted the settlement because it provided recovery of more than their alleged unpaid wages while avoiding the risks and costs of continued litigation.
Settlement Review
Because the case included Fair Labor Standards Act claims, the court reviewed the settlement for fairness under the Second Circuit’s decision in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc. The agreement did not include a confidentiality requirement or a general release. Its release was limited to wage-and-hour claims and claims that were or could have been brought based on the facts alleged in the pleadings.
The court also considered the factors identified in Wolinsky v. Scholastic Inc., including the plaintiffs’ possible recovery, the burdens and expenses of continued litigation, the seriousness of the litigation risks, and whether the agreement resulted from arm’s-length negotiations between experienced counsel. The submission stated that both sides had exchanged letters about an anticipated motion to dismiss and engaged in substantive settlement discussions.
Attorney’s Fees and Disposition
The agreement allocated the $7,000 as follows: $2,835 to Caba; $1,500 to Duran; and $2,665 to plaintiffs’ counsel, consisting of $2,165 in attorney’s fees and $500 in expenses. The court found the fees reasonable. The court noted, however, that it did not make any determination about the reasonableness of counsel’s hourly rate or of any particular hours billed on the case.
Judge John P. Cronan approved the settlement. He denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss, Docket No. 14, without prejudice as moot, directed the clerk to close Docket Nos. 14 and 19, and directed that the case be closed.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.