CASTANON v. MOUNT ZION HOLDINGS, INC.

• Court: District Court, S.D. Florida
• Decided: August 23, 2019
• Docket: 1:19-cv-20804
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA MIAMI DIVISION CASE NO. 1:19-CV-20804-JLK TAMARA CASTANON, and other similarly situated individuals, Plaintiff, Vv. MOUNT ZION HOLDINGS, INC., d/b/a AMERICAN LINEN SERVICE, ISABELLA MONTEALEGRE, & PETER MONTEALEGRE,

Defendants. I OPNIION ON DAMAGES AS TO DEFENDANT MOUNT ZION HOLDINGS, INC. THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon the affidavit of Plaintiff Tamara Castanon docketed August 21, 2019 (D.E. 24-1) in support of her Motion for Default Judgment against Defendant Mount Zion Holdings, Inc. (“Mount Zion”) (D.E. 20). On August 15, 2019, the Court granted Plaintiff's Motion. for Default Judgment against Mount Zion as to liability, where it failed to retain counsel, and allowed Plaintiff to submit a new affidavit “stating facts to support the damages amount she requests” (D.E. 22, at 2~3). The Court specifically flagged Plaintiff's request for $22,600.00 in back pay for her retaliatory discharge claim: “Plaintiff states no facts to show she made any effort to mitigate her damages, for example by seeking other employment,” citing Nord v. U.S. Steel.Corp., 758 F.2d 1462, 1471-72 (11th Cir. 1988) (éd. at 2).

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In her new affidavit, Plaintiff states that she “performed [her] work satisfactorily” at all times during her employment, and “was fired due to [her] requests to be paid overtime” (D.E. 24-1, 4] 18-19). She states that, although she “immediately started looking foranew_° job, [she] was unable. to find one for 4 weeks,” after which she started work as a part-time employee earning $150 per week (id. § 20-21), but she had been making $700 per week when employed by Mount Zion (id. { 24). She continues: “I have been continuously making efforts to find a second job in order to cover my expenses but have been unable to do so” and

“am now forced to move to live at my sister’s house” (id. {J 22-23). First, the Court finds that, as to her unpaid minimum wage and overtime compensation claims, Castanon sufficiently set forth calculations of five weeks’ minimum

wages totaling $2,475.00 (see D.E. 24-1, J 16), and 52 weeks’ overtime compensation. totaling $4,917.80 (see id. § 17). Second, as to her request for back pay, the Court finds that

- Castanon has now provided facts in her sworn affidavit to support her request for back pay for retaliatory discharge, and on the basis of those facts is entitled to back pay in the amount of $22,600.00. Third, the Court finds Plaintiff is due liquidated damages in the amounts of $2,475.00 and $4,917.80 where Mount Zion has defaulted Plaintiffs FLSA minimum

wage and overtime compensation claims.! Therefore, the Court concludes that, based on Plaintiff Tamara Castanon’s uncontradicted, defaulted testimony in her affidavit, she is due to be awarded a total □□ As noted in its prior order, the Court has discretion as to whether to award liquidated damages for a retaliatory discharge claim. See Moore v. Appliance Direct, Inc., 708 F.3d 1233, 1238-43 (11th Cir. 2013); see also Snapp v. Unlimited Concepts, Inc., 208 F.3d 928, 934 (11th Cir. 2000) (“[T]he liquidated damage provision is not penal in its nature but constitutes compensation for the retention of a workman’s pay which might result in damages too obscure and difficult of proof for estimate other than by liquidated damages.”). The Court continues to find that liquidated damages for Plaintiffs retaliatory discharge claim would be inappropriate.

_ $37,385.60 from Defendant Mount Zion Holdings, Inc. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58(a), final default judgment against Defendant Mount Zion Holdings, Inc. will be set out in a separate document. DONE and ORDERED in chambers at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building and United States Courthouse, Miami, Florida, this 23rd day of August, 2019.

. □ fn a MES LAWRENCE KING □ ITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

ce: All Counsel of Record