Lazaro-Garcia v. Sengupta Food Servs.

Lazaro-Garcia v. Sengupta Food Servs.

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

RONNIE ABRAMS, United States District Judge:

Plaintiff Michael Lazaro-Garcia brought this action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq. and the New York Labor Law ("NYLL"). On September 22, 2015, the parties submitted a settlement for judicial approval as required by the Second Circuit in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc., 796 F.3d 199 (2d Cir. 2015). See Dkt. 12, Ex 1, at 1 (the "Settlement"). In support of the Settlement, the parties submitted a joint letter advocating for judicial approval. See Dkt. 12 (the "Letter" or "Ltr.") For the reasons stated below, the Court denies the parties' request for approval of the settlement without prejudice to renew in accordance with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

On June 3, 2015, Plaintiff initiated this action against Defendants Sengupta [*2]  Food Services, LLC, which does business as Soho Park Restaurant, and its owners, Ashim Sengupta and Shawn Sengupta alleging violations of the FLSA and NYLL. The Complaint alleges that Derfendants failed to pay Plaintiff overtime wages during the time of his employment as a "kitchen helper and food preparer." Compl. PP 15, 19.

In early September, the parties notified the Court that they had reached a settlement. On September 22, 2015, the parties filed their Settlement agreement. See Ltr. at 1. The Settlement requires Defendants to pay Plaintiff $55,000—constituting $16,000 in back pay, $19,970 in liquidated damages, and $22,000 for attorney's fees, costs, and expenses. Settlement at 1. The attorney's fees amount to forty percent of the total settlement. The Settlement contains a "General Release" provision as well as a provision on "Non-Disparagement." Settlement at 4-5. The parties, though, "have agreed to strike the confidentiality provisions of the agreement," Ltr. at 2 n.2, and they thus placed a line through the "Confidentiality" and "Breach of Confidentiality" sections, Settlement at 5-8.

The Letter details settlement discussions and advocates for judicial approval. It describes how the parties' calculated the value of Plaintiff's claims—approximately [*3]  $40,000 by Plaintiffs and $35,000 by Defendants—as well as the litigation risk of allowing the case to move forward. Ltr. at 2-3. The Letter states that the Settlement "was reached as a result of extensive, arm's length negotiations between counsel." Ltr. at 3. Finally, it advocates for the fee award, noting that the parties believe it to be reasonable given Mr. Cooper's experience. The parties acknowledge, however, that the award is 1.4 times what it would have been had they billed plaintiff hourly, and includes over thirty eight hours of attorney time at $400 per hour and 6.8 hours of time for Mr. Cooper's assistant, Ms. Pena, at $100 per hour.

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