Coluzzi v. Bank of America, N. A.
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:23-cv-06885
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Coluzzi v. Bank of America, Judge Schofield required plaintiffs’ counsel to confirm settlement terms after the parties stipulated to dismiss wage claims without prejudice.
The plaintiffs and their counsel, as well as Bank of America, N.A.; the order imposed the filing requirement on plaintiffs’ counsel and addressed the effect of the parties’ settlement and proposed voluntary dismissal.
What happened
In Coluzzi v. Bank of America, the plaintiffs had amended their complaint to allege violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage law, and state law against Bank of America, N.A.
The parties filed an agreement to voluntarily dismiss the case without prejudice based on a settlement. The order required the plaintiffs’ counsel to provide a declaration or affidavit within 30 days.
Judge Schofield required counsel to state that the plaintiffs understood they could file another lawsuit against the same defendants and to confirm that the settlement did not release the defendants from liability. If either statement was untrue, counsel had to explain that in a letter.
The detailed version
- Coluzzi v. Bank of America, N. A. · No. 1:23-cv-06885
- Lorna Schofield
- Jan. 24, 2024
Background
On November 6, 2023, Diane Coluzzi and the other plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging wage-and-hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state law. The defendant was Bank of America, N.A.
On January 19, 2024, the parties filed a stipulation for voluntary dismissal without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). A dismissal without prejudice generally does not prevent a later lawsuit, but this order focused on confirming what the settlement agreement provided.
Order
The court ordered plaintiffs’ counsel to submit a declaration or affidavit within 30 days stating that:
1. The plaintiffs had been clearly advised that settling this case did not prevent them from filing another lawsuit against the same defendants; and 2. The settlement agreement did not contain a release of the defendants.
If either statement was untrue, counsel had to file a letter explaining that fact. The opinion does not state whether the declaration, affidavit, or any explanatory letter was later filed.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.