Rhone v. Hands of Tibet, LLC
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:23-cv-02425
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rhone v. Hands of Tibet, Judge Caproni dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs after the parties reported an agreement in principle.
The dismissal and any settlement affected Tonimarie Rhone and Hands of Tibet, LLC. Absent putative class members were not bound.
What happened
Tonimarie Rhone sued Hands of Tibet, LLC, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated. The parties told the court they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues.
The court canceled all scheduled conferences and deadlines, terminated open motions, and closed the case. It also removed the class-action language from the caption because the parties had not said they would follow the required class-settlement procedure.
Judge Caproni dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party. The dismissal and any settlement applied only between Rhone and Hands of Tibet and did not bind absent putative class members; the parties could ask to reopen the case within 30 days for good cause or ask the court to retain authority to enforce their settlement.
The detailed version
- Rhone v. Hands of Tibet, LLC · No. 1:23-cv-02425
- Valerie Caproni
- June 2, 2023
Background
Tonimarie Rhone brought the case against Hands of Tibet, LLC, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated. On June 1, 2023, the parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement in principle resolving all issues.
Court’s order
The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It dismissed the case with prejudice and without costs, including attorneys’ fees, to either party. The clerk was directed to terminate all open motions and close the case.
The parties were allowed to apply within 30 days to reopen the case. Any such request had to show good cause for keeping the case open despite the parties’ settlement, and a late request or one without a showing of good cause could be denied on that basis alone.
The court also explained that, if the parties wanted it to retain authority to enforce their settlement agreement, they had to submit the agreement and request an order expressly retaining that authority within the same 30-day period.
Effect on putative class members
Because the parties had not notified the court that they intended to follow Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e), the court directed the clerk to remove the language referring to Rhone as acting for others similarly situated. The dismissal and any settlement were operative only between Rhone and Hands of Tibet; they did not bind absent putative class members.
Disposition
The case was dismissed with prejudice and without costs, the open motions were terminated, and the case was closed. The order did not approve a settlement on behalf of absent class members or make them bound by one.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.