Montalvo v. Paul Bar & Restaurant Corp.

Background

Amberlyn Montalvo sued Paul Bar & Restaurant Corporation doing business as The Paul Hotel Rooftop Bar, Jose Maldonado, and Mohan Aluwalia. She alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law involving minimum wages, overtime wages, tips, spread-of-hours pay, and wage notices and statements. The opinion states that the defendants employed Montalvo as a bartender from April 18, 2021, through June 8, 2021, and paid her a flat rate of $40 for each 10-hour shift.

The defendants did not answer or otherwise appear. Montalvo moved for default judgment and attorneys’ fees. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn recommended finding the defendants liable for minimum-wage and overtime violations, failure to provide tips, and awarding damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs. Montalvo objected to several parts of that recommendation.

Rulings on Montalvo’s Objections

Statutory damages for wage notices and statements. Montalvo sought statutory damages under New York Labor Law sections 195 and 198 for not receiving required wage notices and wage statements. The court held that she had not pleaded a concrete injury sufficient to establish standing under the Constitution. The court therefore did not award those statutory damages. It also rejected harms that Montalvo raised for the first time in her objection because they were not pleaded in the complaint or previously presented in support of the default-judgment motion.

Credit for payments. The court agreed that the damages calculation should credit the defendants for the $40 per shift that Montalvo alleged she had received. The court relied in part on the rule that a default judgment cannot exceed the amount demanded in the pleadings.

Spread-of-hours pay. The court denied Montalvo’s request for additional spread-of-hours pay. Her complaint alleged that she generally worked 10-hour days, but the applicable New York rule required work exceeding 10 hours in a day. The court found that her complaint and declaration did not establish that requirement.

Prejudgment interest. The court awarded no prejudgment interest because Montalvo disavowed or did not request that relief.

Attorneys’ fees. The court agreed that Montalvo was entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs because she prevailed on the wage claims. It approved a $450 hourly rate and 16.5 hours for lead attorney Penn Dodson. It approved $125 per hour for senior paralegals, $100 per hour for the junior paralegal, and $50 per hour for the client-relations specialist. The court reduced compensable support-staff time because some entries concerned potential plaintiffs who were not part of the case, lacked sufficient detail, involved unreasonable tasks, or reflected excessive billing. The resulting fee award was $10,611.25.

Disposition

The court adopted the Report and Recommendation with a slight modification to the attorneys’ fees and entered default judgment. It awarded Montalvo $37,055.84, consisting of $12,659.70 in back pay and unlawfully deducted tips, $12,659.70 in liquidated damages, $10,611.25 in attorneys’ fees, and $1,125.19 in costs. No prejudgment interest was awarded. The clerk was directed to issue a judgment and close the case.