De Dios De Los Santos v. Shree Laxmi Restaurant, Inc.
- Katharine Parker
- 1:22-cv-10774
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In De Dios De Los Santos v. Shree Laxmi Restaurant, Judge Parker approved the Fair Labor Standards Act settlement and discontinued the action with prejudice and without costs.
The two plaintiffs, the restaurant and the two individual defendants, and plaintiffs’ counsel were affected by the court’s approval of the settlement. The action was discontinued with prejudice and without costs, and the court retained jurisdiction to enforce the settlement if necessary.
What happened
In De Dios De Los Santos v. Shree Laxmi Restaurant, two plaintiffs sued the restaurant and two individuals under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. The parties reached an agreement in principle to resolve the case and submitted a proposed settlement for court approval.
The court reviewed whether the settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate, considering the parties’ submissions, the agreement’s terms, and the strengths and weaknesses of their positions. The court approved the settlement, including compensation for the plaintiffs’ legal fees, and agreed to retain jurisdiction to enforce the agreement if necessary.
Judge Katharine H. Parker ordered that the action be discontinued with prejudice and without costs. The court also directed the Clerk to terminate the motion at ECF No. 54 and close the case.
The detailed version
- De Dios De Los Santos v. Shree Laxmi Restaurant, Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-10774
- Katharine Parker
- Feb. 1, 2024
Background
Francisco De Dios De Los Santos and Luis Victoriano De Jesus brought an action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law governing wages and working conditions, and the New York Labor Law against Shree Laxmi Restaurant, Inc., doing business as Swagat Restaurant, Abishek Sharma, and Lala R. Sharma. The parties consented to the court’s authority to decide the case under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
The parties reached an agreement in principle to resolve the action and submitted a proposed settlement agreement for judicial approval. The plaintiffs also submitted a letter explaining why they believed the agreement was fair, reasonable, and adequate.
Court’s Analysis
The court reviewed the proposed settlement to determine whether it represented a reasonable compromise of the claims. The court considered the plaintiffs’ letter, the settlement terms, the circumstances of the case, and the court’s familiarity with the parties’ positions from court conferences and a settlement conference. The court found that the agreement was fair, reasonable, and adequate both to redress the plaintiffs’ claims and to compensate plaintiffs’ counsel for legal fees.
Ruling
The court approved the proposed settlement. At the parties’ request, it will retain jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement if necessary. Because of the settlement approval, the court ordered that the action be discontinued with prejudice and without costs. It also directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the motion at ECF No. 54 and close the case on the court’s docket.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.