Espinal v. Empire City Construction Co., Inc.

Background

The parties advised the court that they had reached a settlement in principle in this Fair Labor Standards Act case. Under applicable Second Circuit law, the court must review the proposed settlement—including any proposed attorney’s fee award—to determine whether it is fair.

Required settlement submission

The court ordered the parties to submit the settlement agreement by October 7, 2023, together with a joint letter explaining the basis for the proposed settlement and why the agreement should be approved as fair and reasonable. The letter must address the fairness factors identified in Wolinsky v. Scholastic, Inc. It also must discuss any confidentiality provisions, non-disparagement provisions, releases, incentive payments to the plaintiff, and attorney’s fees requested by plaintiff’s counsel.

The court stated that the parties could not justify the requested attorney’s fees merely by identifying the fees’ proportion of the total settlement. Adequate supporting documentation should normally include contemporaneous time records identifying, for each attorney, the date, hours worked, and nature of the work. The court warned that insufficient documentation could result in rejection of the proposed fee award.

Hearing and disposition of other matters

The court directed the parties to appear by telephone for a settlement-fairness hearing on October 17, 2023, at 3:30 p.m., and required the plaintiff to attend. Judge Lewis J. Liman also ordered that any pending motions were dismissed as moot and that all other conferences and deadlines—including trial and pretrial deadlines—were canceled. The order required further settlement materials and a hearing; it did not state that the proposed settlement had been approved.