Munive v. Furniture Direct Outlet Inc.
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:19-cv-09576
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Munive v. Furniture Direct Outlet, Judge Gardephe awarded Munive $406,434.78 plus interest after defendants defaulted on wage claims.
Candido Tepox Munive was awarded $406,434.78 in damages plus prejudgment and post-judgment interest. The judgment affects Furniture Direct Outlet Inc. and Rami Alquran, against whom the court had entered default.
What happened
In Munive v. Furniture Direct Outlet Inc., Candido Tepox Munive sued Furniture Direct Outlet Inc. and Rami Alquran under federal and New York wage laws. He sought unpaid overtime, additional damages, and damages for missing wage notices and statements.
The defendants did not respond to the court’s order requiring them to explain why judgment should not be entered, and they did not appear at the hearing. The court entered default and sent the damages question to Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo, who recommended an award after reviewing Munive’s submissions.
No party objected to that recommendation. Judge Gardephe adopted it with one calculation change, awarded Munive $406,434.78 in damages, and ordered 9% yearly interest on $198,217.39 from August 8, 2016, until judgment, followed by federal post-judgment interest.
The detailed version
- Munive v. Furniture Direct Outlet Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-09576
- Paul Gardephe
- May 22, 2024
Background
Candido Tepox Munive sued Furniture Direct Outlet Inc. and Rami Alquran, identified in the opinion as the company’s owner, for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The claims sought unpaid overtime wages, liquidated damages, and statutory damages for failing to provide required wage notices and wage statements. Munive brought the action individually and on behalf of others similarly situated.
The Clerk issued certificates of default against both defendants on May 4, 2021. After the defendants failed to respond to an order to show cause and did not appear at the June 17, 2021 hearing, the court entered an order of default against them. The court then referred the case for an inquest—a process for determining the amount of damages.
Magistrate Judge’s Recommendation
Magistrate Judge Valerie Figueredo recommended $406,434 in damages: $198,217 in overtime damages, $198,217 in liquidated damages, and $10,000 in statutory damages for the wage-notice and wage-statement violations. She also recommended 9% annual prejudgment interest on the compensatory-damages amount of $198,217, calculated from August 8, 2016, until judgment. The recommended order also included post-judgment interest at the federal rate under 28 U.S.C. § 1961. Munive’s counsel had stated that Munive was no longer seeking attorney’s fees or litigation costs.
The parties received the recommendation and notice that objections were due within 14 days. No party filed an objection.
Ruling
Because no objections were filed, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error. Judge Gardephe found the 20-page recommendation thorough and well reasoned but modified the overtime-damages and liquidated-damages calculations from $198,217 each to $198,217.39 each. That change increased the total damages award to $406,434.78. The court otherwise adopted the recommendation in full.
The court awarded Munive $406,434.78 in damages. It ordered prejudgment interest at 9% per year on $198,217.39 from August 8, 2016, until the date judgment is entered, and post-judgment interest at the federal rate from entry of judgment until payment. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.