Martinez v. La Fox, BP, Inc.

• Court: District Court, N.D. Illinois
• Decided: December 18, 2018
• Docket: 1:18-cv-00299
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION CLAUDIA MARTINEZ, on behalf of ) Case No. 18-cv-299 herself and others similarly situated ) , ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Honorable Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ) ) ) LA FOX BP, INC and WAQAR QURESHI ) individually, ) ) Defendants. ) PROVE UP OF DAMAGES FOR DEFAULT Plaintiff Claudia Martinez submits the following by and through their attorney, Jorge Sanchez in support of her claim for damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Illinois Minimum Wage Law and submit the following in support thereof. 1. Plaintiff Claudia Martinez, has executed a declaration (attached as Exhibit A) detailing the amount of wages owing and due to her. 2. Plaintiff Martinez is owed $4644 in unpaid overtime wages by Defendants Quereshi and LA FOX BP, Inc. 3. The wages are owed to her since April of 2017. 4. Plaintiffs also attach to this filing a spread sheet (Exhibit B) which totals the amounts of unpaid wages, liquidated damages in an amount equal to the unpaid wages, and 2% interest per month for the time the wages have gone unpaid. 5. The Plaintiff’s total damages which she seek this Court to award her are $11,474 jointly and severally by Defendants Quereshi and LA FOX BP, Inc. 6. Additionally, Plaintiffs request that this Court enter an award of attorneys’ fees of $6162.5 which equals 14.5 hours of attorney time spent by Plaintiffs’ counsel at a rate of $425/hour. Plaintiff attaches to this motion as Exhibit C a declaration and supporting exhibits to which 7. go to the determination of Counsel’s hourly rate.

8. Plaintiffs request that the Court issue an order finding Defendants liable for a total of $17.636.5 representing $11,474 damages, penalties and interest to Plaintiff and

$6162.5 in attorneys’ fees. By: /s/ Jorge Sanchez One of Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Jorge Sanchez Lopez & Sanchez LLP 77 W. Washington St., Suite 1313 Chicago, IL 60602 attysanchez@gmail.com 312-420-6784 Dated: December 18, 2018 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

CLAUDIA MARTINEZ, on behalf of ) Case No. 18-cv-299 herself and others similarly situated ) ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Honorable Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ) ) ) LA FOX BP, INC and WAQAR QURESHI _ ) individually, ) ) Defendants. )

DECLARATION OF CLAUDIA MARTINEZ

I, Claudia Martinez, hereby declare as follows:

1. I am the Plaintiff in the above case. 2. I worked for Defendants LA FOX BP, INC and WAQAR QURESHI from November 1, 2016 through April 8 2017. 3. When I worked for Defendants they failed to pay me all the wages that were due to me on account of my having worked for him. They never paid any overtime compensation despite my working substantially more hours than 40 hours per week. 4. I have calculated that Defendants failed to pay me a total of $4644 for work I performed and was not paid for. 5. All of the foregoing I declare to be true. Bp cabyn Zn Dated: December 15, 2018

straight time interest #of owed 40 overtime owed amount amount months*.02* Week ending Hours hrs*$9/hr (83‐40) hrs*13.5 paid due monthly pay 1‐Nov‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 8‐Nov‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 15‐Nov‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 22‐Nov‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 29‐Nov‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 464.4 6‐Dec‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 13‐Dec‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 20‐Dec‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 27‐Dec‐16 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 356.04 3‐Jan‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 10‐Jan‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 17‐Jan‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 24‐Jan‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 31‐Jan‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 425.7 7‐Feb‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 14‐Feb‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 21‐Feb‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 28‐Feb‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 406.35 7‐Mar‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 14‐Mar‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 21‐Mar‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 28‐Mar‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 387 4‐Apr‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 11‐Apr‐17 83 360 580.5 940.5 193.5 147.06 Overtime pay owed 4644 2186.55 Liquidated damages 4644 Interest 2186.55 Total 11474.55 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION CLAUDIA MARTINEZ, on behalf of ) Case No. 18-cv-299 herself and others similarly situated ) , ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Honorable Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ) ) ) LA FOX BP, INC and WAQAR QURESHI ) individually, ) ) Defendants. ) DECLARATION OF JORGE SANCHEZ I, Jorge Sanchez, affirm and state that the following is true and correct: 1. I am one of the attorneys for plaintiffs in the above case. 2. I received a B.A. from Brown University in 1989 and a J.D. from University of California Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law in May 1995. 3. At Boalt Hall I served as a researcher for Professor Angela Harris and served as articles editor and an editor for the La Raza Law Journal. 4. I was admitted to the Illinois State Bar and Northern District of Illinois in January 1998. 1 have also been admitted to the following courts: the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, United States District Court for Eastern District of Wisconsin, the United States District Court for Western District of Wisconsin, the United States District Court for Northern District of Indiana; the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; the United States District Court for the Central District of Pennsylvania; the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. 5. 1 have more than 20 years of legal and litigation experience and have split my career largely between the law firm Despres Schwartz and Geoghegan and the civil rights non-profit MALDEF, and co-founded my current firm Lopez & Sanchez, LLP in September 2016. 6. At the Despres law firm I litigated a number of employment and civil rights cases across

a broad range of areas of law including the WARN Act, ERISA, Title VII, Section 1983, LMRDA, False Claims Act, and Section II of the Voting Rights Act. 7. Three cases in which I was the principle author of the appellate briefs and argued on appeal have been published in official reporters. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. Union Pacific R. Co., 500 Fad 591, (Cir. 7th Cir 2007)(overturing motion to dismiss and ordering enforcement of arbitration award under the Railway Labor Act); Pena v. American Meat Packing Corp., 362 F.3d 418, (Cir. 7th Cir 2004) (overturning grant of summary judgment in a WARN Act case); Boyd v. Illinois State Police, 384 F.3d 888 (Cir. 7th 2004)(upholding verdict on basis of harmless error but finding that jury instructions given in Title VII case were erroneous as plaintiff had argued).

8. Additionally I was a contributing author and principle editor in the case Hallinan v. Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7, 570 F.3d 811 (7th Cir. 2009), and the sole author in Gonzalez v. City of Aurora, 535 F.3d 594 (7th Cir. 2008). I argued both cases before the Court of Appeals. 9. Other reported decisions resulting from my efforts include U.S. v. National Training and Information Center, Inc., 532 F.Supp.2d 946 (N.D.111., 2007)(granting in part my motion to dismiss a False Claims Act complaint); US. ex rel. Salmeron v. Enterprise Recovery Systems, Inc., 464 F.Supp.2d 766, (N.D.III., 2006)(denying defendant's motion to dismiss my False Claims Act complaint); Pena v. American Meat Packing Corp., 258 F.Supp.2d 864, (N.D.I1I., 2003)(overtumed by my subsequent appeal); Kozlowski v. Fry, 238 F.Supp.2d 996, (N.D.III., 2002)(denying defendants' motion for summary judgement); Dickieson v. DER Travel Service, Inc., 149 F.Supp.2d 1011, N.D.III., 2001 (denying defendant's motion to dismiss). 10. In Phason, et al. v. Meridian Rail Corp. et al., then Chief Judge Holderman approved a fee

petition in a WARN Act Class action which stated hourly billing rates of $450 per hour for my services in 2009. (See fee petition and order approving it, attached to this declaration). 11. Prior to beginning my legal career I spent three years working as an organizer with the United Farm Workers Union. Like the clients I encountered with the UFW a large number of my clients have uncertain legal statuses, limited English proficiency and often low educational attainment. 12. Many of my clients require additional attention and assurances to pursue their legal remedies. Many choose not to go forward out of fear. 13. My fluency in Spanish, my experience working with similar client populations and my knowledge of immigration and employment law allow me to counsel clients like those in the

present case, as to their rights and the potential risks and consequences associated with pursuing legal action. By: _/s/ Jorge Sanchez___ Lopez & Sanchez LLP 77 W. Washington St., Suite 1313 Chicago, IL 60602 (312)420-6784 Dated: December 18, 2018 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION ROBERT PHASON, JUAN ORTIZ, ) CLIFFORD RUSH, and ) RICHARD ZIMMERMAN, et al., ) Case No. 04-CV-05845 Plaintiffs ) ) v. ) ) Judge James F. Holderman MERIDIAN RAIL CORP. (a/k/a MERIDIAN ) RAIL ACQUISITION CORP., MERIDIAN RAIL) Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan PRODUCTS CORP., MERIDIAN RAIL ) SERVICES CORP., MERIDIAN RAIL ) TRACK PRODUCTS CORP, MERIDIAN ) RAIL SERVICES, LLC; MERIDIAN RAIL LLC; ) ) Defendant. ) Plaintiffs’ Motion to Recover Legal Fees as outlined under the Settlement Agreement Counsel for plaintiffs respectfully move for recovery of legal fees as outlined under the Settlement Agreement in the amount of $400,000. In support of this motion plaintiffs state as follows: 1. This case involves the WARN Act, 29 U.S.C. section 2101 et seq. The parties in this case reached a settlement agreement which entitled class members to receive $975,000 and plaintiffs’ counsel to receive $400,000, contingent on Court approval. 2. Counsel for plaintiffs have already billed over $492,787.50 in this case (not including all time in April or any time in May 2009 and future time administering this settlement). The attorneys and legal assistant in this case have billed over 1322.07 hours. Thomas Geoghegan has billed roughly 259.57 hours at a rate of $500 per hour. Jorge Sanchez has billed roughly 310.2 hours at a rate of $450 per hour. Carol Nguyen has billed roughly 605.5 hours at a rate of $325

an hour. Mike Persoon has billed roughly 104.1 hours at a rate of $225 an hour. Lastly Scott Widmer, a legal assistant, has billed roughly 42.70 hours at a rate of $75 an hour. This $492, 787.50 does not include all the time for April and May and also does not include future time that will be incurred to administer this settlement. The statutory provision allows the-court in its discretion to grant a “reasonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs.” 29 U.S.C. section 2104(a)(6).

3. Class notice went out to all but 5 class members (184 of 189 class members). Not a single class member has objected to this settlement. WHEREFORE, plaintiffs ask this Court to enter the above motion and grant plaintiffs’ motion for fees under the settlement agreement in the amount of $400,000.

May 18, 2008 S/ Carol Nguyen One of the attorneys for plaintiffs

Thomas H. Geoghegan Carol Nguyen Jorge Sanchez Despres Schwartz & Geoghegan, Ltd. 77 W. Washington St., Suite 711 Chicago, IL 60602 (312) 372-2511

Name of Assigned Judge James F. Holderman Sitting Judge if Other or Magistrate Judge than Assigned Judge CASE NUMBER 04 C 5845 DATE 10/8/2009 CASE Robert Phason et al vs. Meridan Rail Corp. Et al TITLE DOCKET ENTRY TEXT ENTER ORDER APPROVING ATTORNEY’S FEES: The law firm Despres, Schwartz & Geoghegan, Ltd., as Class Counsel, is hereby awarded the sum of four-hundred thousand dollars and no cents ($400,000.00) in complete and final compensation and remuneration for all their fees and costs incurred during and relating to this litigation, including any ongoing or future administration required by the Settlement Agreement. O[ For further detail see separate order(s).] Docketing to mail notices.

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