Pastrana v. Level Up Fitness LLC

District Court, S.D. Florida·Decided December 1, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-21985·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 21-cv-21985-BLOOM/Otazo-Reyes

CASANDRA PASTRANA, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

LEVEL UP FITNESS, LLC, et al.,

Defendants. ____________________________/

ORDER ON MOTION FOR DEFAULT FINAL JUDGMENT

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Plaintiff Casandra Pastrana’s (“Pastrana”) and Taylor Gartenmayer’s (“Gartenmayer”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) Motion for Entry of Default Final Judgment, ECF No. [43] (“Motion”), filed on November 19, 2021. The Court has carefully reviewed the Motion, the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On May 27, 2021, Plaintiffs filed their initial complaint for unpaid wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. (“FLSA”), Florida’s Minimum Wage Act, Fla. Stat. § 448.01, et seq. (“FMWA”), and the Miami-Dade County Wage Theft Prevention Act, Miami- Dade County Code of Ordinances Chapter 22-5(1) (“Ordinance”). See ECF No. [1]. Plaintiffs’ claims are asserted against Defendants Level Up Fitness LLC (“Level Up Fitness”), Growth Fitness LLC (“Growth Fitness”) (collectively, “Entity Defendants”), and Jeffrey Lessegue (“Lessegue”) (collectively, “Defendants”). After serving the Entity Defendants and obtaining a Clerk’s Default against them, ECF No. [16], Plaintiffs were unable to effectuate service of process on Lessegue. Plaintiffs thereafter moved for an extension of time to effectuate service of process on Lessegue, ECF No. [23]. The Court granted that motion. ECF No. [24] (“Order”). On August 30, 2021, Plaintiffs filed their First Amended Complaint pursuant to the FLSA, FMWA, and Ordinance, adding that the Lessegue was

evading service. See generally ECF No. [25] (“Amended Complaint”). Pursuant to this Court’s Order and Fed. R. Civ. P. 5, Plaintiffs served the Entity Defendants with the Amended Complaint via certified mail at both the current location of the business and the address listed for their Registered Agent. ECF No. [28]. Plaintiffs then effectuated service of process on Lessegue via the Secretary of State on September 7, 2021, and notice was served on Lessegue via certified mail on September 10, 2021, at both the current location of the business and his home address. ECF Nos. [26]-[27], [29]-[30], & [32]. Upon Defendants’ failure to timely answer or otherwise respond to the Amended Complaint, the Court entered an Order on Default Procedures, requiring Defendants’ response to the Amended Complaint by October 7, 2021. ECF

No. [33]. Defendants failed to comply, and Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Clerk’s Default, ECF No. [34], which was entered that same day, ECF No. [35]. To date, Defendants have failed to file or serve any response as required by law to Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint. In the Motion, Plaintiffs seek default final judgment against Defendants as to their claims under the FLSA (Count I), FMWA (Count II), Aider and Abettor Liability (Count III), and Ordinance (Count IV), as well as an award of damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs. FACTUAL BACKGROUND According to the Amended Complaint, both Level Up Fitness and Growth Fitness are gyms with gross annual sales of over $500,000, respectively. ECF No. [25] ¶¶ 9-10. Level Up Fitness and Growth Fitness have the same principal place of business, share assets and locations, had shared employees, common management and ownership, and exercised common control over operations. Id. ¶ 12. Lessegue is listed as the registered agent for both Level Up Fitness and Growth Fitness. Id. ¶ 11. Lessegue is also the owner and chief operating officer of both Level Up Fitness and Growth

Fitness. Id. Lessegue managed and operated Level Up Fitness and Growth Fitness and exercised authority to hire and fire employees, determine their work schedules, set the rate of pay for employees, determine the employees’ rent obligations for use in the gym, and to control the finances and operations of both Level Up Fitness and Growth Fitness. Id. ¶ 14. Pastrana was employed by Defendants from June 2019 through December 2020 as a personal trainer. Id. ¶ 21. Pastrana’s job duties included, but were not limited to, procuring gym memberships and providing fitness training to clients. Id. ¶¶ 21, 23. From December 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020, Pastrana performed 171 hours of work for the benefit of Defendants and is owed $5,790.00, but Defendants have not paid Pastrana any of the wages owed to her. Id.

¶¶ 2, 25, 30. Pastrana alleges that Defendants have intentionally and willfully refused to pay her wages for the month of December 2020. Id. ¶¶ 39-40. Additionally, Gartenmayer was employed by Defendants from November 2019 through December 2020 as a personal trainer. Id. ¶ 22. Gartenmayer’s job duties also included procuring gym memberships and providing fitness training to clients. Id. ¶¶ 22-23. From December 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020, Gartenmayer performed 150 hours of work for the benefit of Defendants and is owed $4,300.00, but Defendants have not paid Gartenmayer any of the wages owed to her. Id. ¶¶ 3, 25, 31. Gartenmayer alleges that Defendants have intentionally and willfully refused to pay her wages for the month of December 2020. Id. ¶¶ 39-40. LEGAL STANDARD Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b), the Court is authorized to enter a final judgment of default against a party who has failed to plead in response to a complaint. This Circuit maintains a “strong policy of determining cases on their merits and we therefore view defaults with disfavor.” In re Worldwide Web Sys., Inc., 328 F.3d 1291, 1295 (11th Cir. 2003).

Nonetheless, default judgment is entirely appropriate and within the district court’s sound discretion to render where the defendant has failed to defend or otherwise engage in the proceedings. See, e.g., Tara Prods., Inc. v. Hollywood Gadgets, Inc., 449 F. App’x 908, 910 (11th Cir. 2011); Dawkins v. Glover, 308 F. App’x 394, 395 (11th Cir. 2009); In re Knight, 833 F.2d 1515, 1516 (11th Cir. 1987); Wahl v. McIver, 773 F.2d 1169, 1174 (11th Cir. 1985); Pepsico, Inc. v. Distribuidora La Matagalpa, Inc., 510 F. Supp. 2d 1110, 1113 (S.D. Fla. 2007); see also Owens v. Benton, 190 F. App’x 762, 763 (11th Cir. 2006) (default judgment is within district court’s direction). A defendant’s “failure to appear and the Clerk’s subsequent entry of default against him

do[es] not automatically entitle Plaintiff to a default judgment.” Capitol Records v. Carmichael, 508 F. Supp. 2d 1079, 1083 (S.D. Ala. 2007). Indeed, a default is not “an absolute confession by the defendant of his liability and of the plaintiff’s right to recover,” Pitts ex rel. Pitts v. Seneca Sports, Inc., 321 F. Supp. 2d 1353, 1357 (S.D. Ga. 2004), but instead acts as an admission by the defaulted defendant as to the well-pleaded allegations of fact in the complaint. See Eagle Hosp. Physicians, LLC v.

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