Patel v. Barot

15 F. Supp. 3d 648, 2014 WL 1624001, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56651
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedApril 23, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 4:13cv59
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 15 F. Supp. 3d 648 (Patel v. Barot) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patel v. Barot, 15 F. Supp. 3d 648, 2014 WL 1624001, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56651 (E.D. Va. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

HENRY COKE MORGAN, JR., Senior District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants Harshad D. Barot; Prakash D. Barot; CAAP Hospitality, LLC; DBSH, LLC; and Shrinidhi Corporation, Inc.’s (“Defendants”) Motion for Settlement and Dismissal, Doc. 39, and Amended Motion for Settlement Approval, Doc. 42, as well as Plaintiff Mukesh Patel’s (“Plaintiff’ or “Patel”) counsel’s Motion to Withdraw as Attorney, Doc. 45. For the reasons stated herein, the Court GRANTS the above Motions.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On May 2, 2013, Patel filed a Complaint against the Defendants, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), violations of Virginia’s minimum wage law, assault, and battery. Doc. 1. A settlement conference was held before United States Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard on January 14, 2014. Settlement discussions continued, and a Joint Notice of Settlement was filed on January 27, 2014. Doc. 38. A Motion for Settlement and Dismissal was filed by the Defendants on February 5, 2014, Doc. 39, followed by a Motion for Settlement Approval filed on February 7, 2014. Doc. 42. Plaintiff then filed a Memorandum in Opposition to the [651]*651Motions on February 19, 2014. Doc. 44. Plaintiffs counsel, James R. Theuer (“Theuer”), then filed a Motion to Withdraw that same day. Doc. 45.

Plaintiffs Opposition did not state why he opposed the settlement. Doc. 44. In their supporting Memorandum, Defendants submitted an e-mail dated January 27, 2014 from Plaintiffs counsel stating, in whole:

This confirms that Plaintiff accepts the offer of settlement, to wit:
Defendants will pay $100,000 in six equal installments beginning 14 days from court approval and on 30-day intervals thereafter. Plaintiff will designate the allocation. In addition, Defendants will not dispute such that Plaintiff will get the $4855.85 on deposit with DOL1 from DBSH.
The settlement amount will be secured through a promissory note and recorded DOT by CAAP Hospitality, LLC, against the Hampton Bay Plaza hotel property.
Court retains jurisdiction to enforce the settlement.

Doc. 39-1. The e-mail is signed by Plaintiffs counsel. Id. The Settlement Agreement (“Agreement”) contains these terms. Doc. 39-2. However, it contains numerous additional terms not memorialized in this e-mail.2 Many are general releases that would be expected in a settlement agreement, claiming both Plaintiff and Defendants waive all causes of action against each other. The Agreement also contains language whereby the Defendants do not admit liability, but again this is not uncommon to a settlement agreement. The Agreement also contains a choice of law provision specifying Virginia law; a forum selection clause; a clause regarding the award of attorney’s fees in an action to enforce the Agreement; a warning regarding potential tax consequences of the Agreement; and other disclaimers regarding bankruptcy, misrepresentations, and violations. Furthermore, the Agreement contains language stating that it “shall be effective upon exchange by the parties of fully executed copies of this Agreement.” Doc. 39-2 at 8.

The Court held a hearing on the Motion to Withdraw on March 5, 2014. Despite being orally instructed to appear, Plaintiff failed to appear. Plaintiffs counsel represented to the Court that he was concerned if forced to continue representing the Plaintiff, he could run afoul of his responsibilities under the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. The Court, while recognizing his concern, denied the Motion to Withdraw without prejudice, and ordered a hearing on March 19, 2014 on the pending Motions regarding the Settlement Agreement. Doc. 50. The Court gave leave to the parties to file supplemental briefing on the enforceability of the Settlement Agreement, but neither party filed a brief.

A hearing was then held on March 19, 2014 concerning the enforceability and fairness of the proposed Agreement. The Corut first called Patel as a witness. Patel testified that he never fully agreed to the settlement, but that he forgot to tell Theuer to consider the injury portion of his case because he was busy when Theuer called him to discuss the terms of the Agreement. Patel testified that he told Theuer the settlement was acceptable for the wage portion of the case. Patel testified he did not realize the settlement was [652]*652for the entire case until he received the written agreement.

At that point, the Court informed Patel that his testimony was in conflict with his attorney’s e-mail and thereby forced the Court to call Theuer as a witness. In view of the conflict of interest between Plaintiffs counsel and Plaintiff, the Court granted Theuer’s request to withdraw. Patel stated that no one had informed him that Theuer could no longer act as his attorney. The Court, having granted Theuer’s Motion to Withdraw, called him as a witness, and advised the parties that Patel’s conduct and testimony compelled the Court to rule that Patel had waived his attorney-client privilege.

Theuer testified that he told his client to obtain substitute counsel for the hearing, and spoke with him three times regarding this issue, but that Patel did not commit to obtaining new counsel if he was forced to withdraw. Theuer testified that he sent an e-mail to opposing counsel on January 27, 2014 containing the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement because Patel had authorized him to do so. Theuer testified that he explained to Patel how the $100,000 settlement (plus the wages set aside with the DOL) would be broken down, and that Patel told him he wanted $66,000 to settle the entire case. Theuer also testified that he sent a copy of the January 27 e-mail to Patel, but that it was not until February 4 that Patel informed him he would not sign the Agreement.

Prior to Patel’s phone call to Theuer concerning the settlement, Theuer testified that he received an e-mail from Patel saying he would accept $66,000, but not the DOL wages.3 The e-mail did not distinguish between the wage claims and the injuries. Confused by this, Theuer called Patel to clarify this misunderstanding. Theuer testified that Patel said he understood, and that he had authorized Theuer to accept the settlement. Theuer went on to explain to the Court that he never understood Patel to separate the wage and injury portion of his case. Theuer also provided the Court a copy of his retainer agreement with Patel, which the Court admitted as an exhibit.4

The Court next questioned Theuer on Patel’s injuries alleged in the assault and battery claims. Theuer testified that the injuries resulted from Patel being pushed. Patel saw a physician twice, though his care was not extensive. Theuer testified that Patel did not have health insurance, and did not seek further medical care.5

Theuer also testified regarding the terms and structure of the Agreement. Theuer stated that he structured it in a way to give Patel the most favorable tax treatment as would be allowed by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). Thus, a portion of the recovery was allocated for his injuries; such payments would not be subject to IRS withholding, as the payments for his wages would be.

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15 F. Supp. 3d 648, 2014 WL 1624001, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56651, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patel-v-barot-vaed-2014.