Acevedo v. WorkFit Medical LLC

187 F. Supp. 3d 370, 2016 WL 2962930
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedMay 20, 2016
Docket6:14-CV-06221 EAW; 6:15-CV-06186 EAW
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 187 F. Supp. 3d 370 (Acevedo v. WorkFit Medical LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Acevedo v. WorkFit Medical LLC, 187 F. Supp. 3d 370, 2016 WL 2962930 (W.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

[375]*375DECISION AND ORDER

ELIZABETH A. WOLFORD, United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Zenaida Acevedo, Kelsie Reed, Joanna Dwyer, and Colleen Pitts (collectively the “Named Plaintiffs”) commenced case number 6:14-cv-06221 EAW on May 2, 2014, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief and monetary damages on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated employees and former employees of Defendants WorkFit Medical, LLC, WorkFit Staffing LLC, Delphi Healthcare PLLC, Delphi Hospitalist Services LLC, and Dr. C. Jay Ellie, Jr. (collectively “Defendants”) and alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. (the “FLSA”) and related state law claims. (Dkt. I)1. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant failed to pay wages including statutorily required overtime to employees and that Defendants failed to provide employees with statutorily required wage notices. (Id. at ¶¶ 114, 118-121).

■ Plaintiff Tracy Slocum (“Slocum”) commenced case number 6:15-cv-06186 EAW on May 2, 2015, alleging- that Defendants WorkFit Medical, LLC, C. Jay Ellie, Jr., M.D., and Brian Bañas had retaliated against her for her participation in case number 6:14-cv-06221.

Presently before the Court are the parties’ Joint Motion for. Final Approval of Settlement of case number 6:14-cv-6221 EAW (Dkt.-82) (“the Joint Approval Motion”) and Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, Enhancement Payments to Named Plaintiffs, and Individual Payment to Tracy Slocum (Dkt. 83) (the “Attorneys’ Fees Motion”). Because the Court finds that the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and that Plaintiffs’ request for attorneys’ fees, costs, enhancement payments, and individual payment to Plaintiff Slocum is fair and reasonable, the Court grants the Joint Approval Motion and the Attorneys’ Fees Motion.

BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs claim that Defendants’ hourly employees were subject to a “no overtime” policy pursuant to which employees who worked more than 40 hours in a workweek were not paid at time and a half their regular hourly rate for those hours worked but instead received compensatory time. (Id.). Plaintiffs claim that Defendants communicated this policy both verbally and in writing. (Id.). Plaintiffs contend that this policy violated both the FLSA and New York State law, as well as the terms of written and oral employment contracts they allegedly entered into with Defendants. (Id.).

On May 23, 2014, Plaintiffs moved for an order certifying an FLSA collective class and providing for expedited notice to class members. (Dkt. 14). On September 17, 2014, the Court entered an order granting Plaintiffs’ motion. (Dkt. 36).2

The parties held multiple mediation sessions between April 2, 2015, and May 11, 2015, with mediator Paul L. Leclair, Esq. (Dkt. 73). The mediation sessions resulted in the parties entering into a settlement agreement in November 2015 (the “Settlement Agreement”).

The Settlement Agreement creates a fund of $2,100,000 to settle both of the [376]*376above-captioned cases, and prescribes the method of allocating that settlement fund among the various putative class and collective action members. (Dkt. 76 at ¶ 11). The settlement fund covers class members’ awards, enhancement payments, the individual payment to Plaintiff Slocum, expenses and costs, interest, attorneys’ fees, and the costs of administration of the settlement and claims process. (Id.)

The Settlement Agreement selects Class Action Administration, Inc., as the Claims Administrator. (Id. at ¶ 14(e). The Settlement Agreement provides that class members who timely return a claim form will be paid according to a calculation that takes into account the number of weeks the class member was employed by Defendants. (Id. at ¶ 14(f)). The Settlement Agreement also provides for payment of up to 33 and ⅜ percent of the Settlement Amount in attorneys’ fees, and a payment of up to $15,000 for actual litigation costs and reasonable expenses. These payments are to be made from the settlement fund. (Id. at ¶ 14(a)).

The parties jointly moved for preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, for preliminary certification of the Settlement Class, for conditional appointment of Plaintiffs’ counsel as class counsel, for approval of Class Action Administration, Inc. as claims administrator, and for approval of the parties’ proposed notice to the class. (Dkt. 75). The Court held a preliminary fairness hearing on January 5, 2016. (Dkt. 78). At the preliminary fairness hearing, the Court and the parties discussed numerous aspects of the proposed settlement and the proposed notice to the settlement classes. The parties submitted revised proposed notice materials on January 8, 2016. (Dkt. 79).

The Court entered a Decision and Order on January 14, 2016, that preliminarily certified one class (the “Settlement Class”) and two subclasses (“Subclass A” and “Subclass B”), preliminarily approved the Settlement Agreement, preliminarily approved Plaintiffs’ counsel as class counsel for the Settlement Classes, approved the parties’ proposed class notice and method of distributing the same, adopted the settlement approval process set forth in the Settlement Agreement, and set a final fairness hearing for Thursday, April 14, 2016. (Dkt. 80). The final fairness hearing was subsequently adjourned to May 3, 2016.

Plaintiffs filed the Joint Approval Motion on April 29, 2016, and the Attorneys’ Fees Motion on May 2, 2016. (Dkt. 82, 83). A final fairness hearing was held on May 3, 2016. (Dkt. 84). No class members appeared at the final fairness hearing, nor did any class members submit objections to the Settlement Agreement in advance of the final fairness hearing.

DISCUSSION

I. The Joint Approval Motion

A. Legal Standard

“Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, a class action cannot be settled without the approval of the District Court. The District Court must carefully scrutinize the settlement to ensure its fairness, adequacy and reasonableness, and that it was not a product of collusion.” D’Amato v. Deutsche Bank, 236 F.3d 78, 85 (2d Cir.2001) (citations omitted). FLSA settlements also require court approval. See Misiewicz v. D’Onofrio Gen. Contractors Corp, No. 08 CV 4377(KAM)(CCP), 2010 WL 2545439, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. May 17, 2010) (“Stipulated settlements in a FLSA case must be approved by the Court. ... ”). Approval of a proposed class action settlement is a matter of discretion for the trial court. Maywalt v. Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co., 67 F.3d 1072, 1079 (2d Cir.1995). A proposed settlement should be approved if the court determines “that the [377]*377settlement, taken as a whole, is fair, reasonable, and adequate.” Id. The court must give “proper deference to the private consensual decision of the parties” in exercising its discretion. Hanlon v. Chrysler Corp., 150 F.3d 1011, 1027 (9th Cir.1998).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
187 F. Supp. 3d 370, 2016 WL 2962930, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/acevedo-v-workfit-medical-llc-nywd-2016.