Larry Dowdy v. WRD Global LLC, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedMarch 25, 2026
Docket2:25-cv-00990
StatusUnknown

This text of Larry Dowdy v. WRD Global LLC, et al. (Larry Dowdy v. WRD Global LLC, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Larry Dowdy v. WRD Global LLC, et al., (D. Ariz. 2026).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Larry Dowdy, No. CV-25-00990-PHX-DJH

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 WRD Global LLC, et al.,

13 Defendants. 14 15 Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Entry of Default Judgment Against 16 Defendants WRD Global LLC, American Business Consultants LLC, and Douglas 17 Harding (Doc. 16). The Motion will be granted with only a slight modification in the 18 amount requested. 19 I. Background 20 From approximately December 16, 2024, through January 27, 2025, Plaintiff Larry 21 Dowdy worked for WRD Global, LLC (“WRD”) as a wholesale distributor. (Doc. 1 ¶¶ 41, 22 42, 58). Plaintiff says that at all relevant times, Defendant American Business Consultants 23 LLC (“ABC”) owned and operated as WRD, and that Defendant Douglas Harding 24 (“Harding”) owned WRD. (Id. ¶¶ 16, 18). Plaintiff alleges that he was to be compensated 25 by Defendants at a “semimonthly rate of approximately $2,500” regardless of the number 26 of hours he actually worked. (Id. at ¶¶ 43, 45, 54). The Complaint alleges that Defendants 27 paid Plaintiff “$500 via two Zelle deposits” on January 6, 2025, and “$2,000 via a Zelle 28 deposit” on January 8, 2025. (Id. ¶¶ 55–56). Plaintiff says though he worked between 48 1 and 50 hours during the six workweeks employed by Defendants, these were the only 2 payments they made to him. (Id. ¶¶ 57–58). Plaintiff left his employment with Defendants 3 on January 27, 2025, because of their failure to pay him. (Id. ¶ 60). 4 II. Procedural History 5 On March 25, 2025, Plaintiff filed his Verified Complaint against Defendants and 6 others. (Doc. 1). Plaintiff brings claims for (1) unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor 7 Standards Act (“FLSA”); (2) unpaid minimum wages under the FLSA; (3) unpaid 8 minimum wages under the Arizona Minimum Wage Act (“AMWA”); and (4) unpaid 9 wages under the Arizona Wage Act (“AWA”). (Id. ¶¶ 83–105). The Complaint’s prayers 10 for relief request unpaid minimum and overtime wages, liquidated and treble damages, 11 reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, and applicable interest. 12 Plaintiff served WRD, ABC, and Harding on March 28, 2025 (Docs. 6–8) and when 13 they did not appear or timely respond to the Complaint, sought entry of default judgment 14 (Doc. 10). The Clerk entered default against WRD, ABC and Harding on May 30, 2025 15 (Doc. 11). Plaintiff subsequently filed the pending Motion for Default Judgment (Doc. 16 16). Defendants have not responded and have not otherwise appeared in this action. 17 III. Legal Standards 18 “When a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed 19 to plead or otherwise defend, and that failure is shown by affidavit or otherwise, the clerk 20 must enter the party’s default.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). The plaintiff may thereafter apply 21 for entry of a default judgment by the Court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2). In deciding whether 22 to grant default judgment, the Court may consider: “(1) the possibility of prejudice to the 23 plaintiff[;] (2) the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claim[;] (3) the sufficiency of the 24 complaint[;] (4) the sum of money at stake in the action; (5) the possibility of a dispute 25 concerning material facts; (6) whether the default was due to excusable neglect[;] and (7) 26 the strong policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on 27 the merits.” Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471–72 (9th Cir. 1986). Upon default, the 28 factual allegations in the complaint are taken as true except those relating to the amount of 1 damages. Geddes v. United Fin. Grp., 559 F.2d 557, 560 (9th Cir. 1977). The Court may 2 conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine the amount of damages, establish the truth of 3 an allegation, or investigate any other matter. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2)(B)-(D). 4 IV. Discussion 5 Plaintiff asks that the Court enter default judgment in his favor because all seven 6 Eitel factors are in his favor. He says he is entitled to 16,500.00 in damages. (See Doc. 16 7 at 3-14). The Court largely agrees with Plaintiff. 8 A. Jurisdiction 9 Before entering judgment against Defendants, the Court must be assured it has 10 jurisdiction over this matter and over the defaulting Defendants. 11 Plaintiff brings unpaid wage claims under the FLSA, AMWA, and AWA. (Doc. 1). 12 The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s FLSA claim because it arises 13 under the laws of the United States. See 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The Court has supplemental 14 subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s AMWA and AWA claims because the state law 15 claims “are so related to” the federal FLSA claim “that they form part of the same case or 16 controversy” under Article III of the Constitution. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). The Court has 17 personal jurisdiction over the Defendants Plaintiff seeks default against because they have 18 purposefully conducted business in Arizona, Plaintiff’s wage claims arise out of 19 Defendants’ forum-related business activities, and Defendants have sufficient minimum 20 contacts with Arizona such that the exercise of jurisdiction does not offend traditional 21 notions of fair play and substantial justice. 22 B. The Eitel Factors 23 A court’s decision whether to enter a default judgment is a discretionary one. 24 Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980); see also Eitel, 782 F.2d at 1471 25 (describing factors “which may be considered by court in exercising discretion as to the 26 entry of default judgment”). In applying the Eitel factors, “the general rule is that well- 27 pled allegations in the complaint regarding liability are deemed true[,]” and the district 28 court “is not required to make detailed findings of fact.” Fair Hous. of Marin v. Combs, 1 285 F.3d 899, 906 (9th Cir. 2002). “However, necessary facts not contained in the 2 pleadings, and claims which are legally insufficient, are not established by default.” Cripps 3 v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., 980 F.2d 1261, 1267 (9th Cir. 1992). 4 1. The First, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Factors 5 The Court can summarily address the first, fifth, sixth, and seventh Eitel factors 6 because defaulting Defendants have failed to participate in the litigation. The first Eitel 7 factor weighs in favor of default judgment because denying Plaintiff’s motion will leave 8 him “without other recourse for recovery.” PepsiCo, Inc. v. Cal. Sec. Cans, 238 F. Supp. 9 2d 1172, 1177 (C.D. Cal. 2002). The fifth Eitel factor weighs in favor of default judgment 10 because there is no dispute over material facts due to Defendants’ failure to participate in 11 the litigation. See id. at 1177 (ruling that “[u]pon entry of default, all well-pleaded facts in 12 the complaint are taken as true, except those relating to damages.”).

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Larry Dowdy v. WRD Global LLC, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/larry-dowdy-v-wrd-global-llc-et-al-azd-2026.