Pineda v. JTCH Apartments, LLC

126 F. Supp. 3d 797, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114152, 2015 WL 5089512
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 27, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 3:13-CV-0588-B
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 126 F. Supp. 3d 797 (Pineda v. JTCH Apartments, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pineda v. JTCH Apartments, LLC, 126 F. Supp. 3d 797, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114152, 2015 WL 5089512 (N.D. Tex. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JANE J. BOYLE, District Judge.

Following a jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff Santiago Pineda on his Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) claim for unpaid overtime wages and retaliation,1 Plaintiff filed two post-verdict motions now before the Court: Plaintiffs Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) (Doc. 96) — supplemented by an Addendum (Doc. 102)2 — and Plaintiffs Motion for Imposition of Liquidated Damages and Entry of Judgment (Doc. 97), both filed on March 19, 2015. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs (Doc. 96), subject to the reductions described below, and GRANTS Plaintiffs Motion for Imposition of Liquidated Damages and Entry of Judgment (Doc. 97).

[800]*800I.

BACKGROUND

This is an action for overtime wages and retaliation brought under the FLSA by Plaintiff Santiago Pineda, a maintenance worker employed by an apartment complex owned by Defendant JTCH Apartments, LLC (JTCH). Defendant Simona Vizireanu, in turn, owned and managed Defendant JTCH. Plaintiff performed maintenance and repair work for the JTCH apartments, where he also resided with his family.

At trial, Plaintiff claimed that he was not paid for the overtime hours he worked, in violation of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). In addition, he claimed that Defendants retaliated against him in violation of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3), for demanding his unpaid overtime wages. Specifically, Plaintiff claimed that Defendants retaliated against him by issuing him a notice to vacate his apartment and requiring him to make certain payments.

On February 17, 2015, the jury, after hearing all of the evidence presented at trial, returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff. See Doc. 90, Jury Verdict. In doing so, the jury made a number of findings. First, the jury found that Plaintiff proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he was an employee of both Defendants JTCH and Vizireanu during the relevant time period. Id. at 10. Second, the jury concluded that Plaintiff was engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, and that he was employed by an enterprise which, in turn, employed individuals engaged in such activity. Id. at 12. Third, the jury determined that Defendant JTCH and/or Defendant Vizireanu failed to pay Plaintiff his overtime wages, equivalent to one and one-half times his regular rate of pay for hours worked over forty during any seven-day workweek. Id. at 15. The jury thus concluded that damages in the amount of $1,426.50 would fairly and reasonably compensate Plaintiff for any unpaid overtime hours he worked while employed by Defendants. Id. at 17. With respect to the retaliation claim, the jury found that Defendant JTCH and/or Defendant Vizireanu took an adverse employment action against Plaintiff and retaliated against him because he filed an FLSA complaint. Id. at 20, 22. The jury determined that the sum of $3,775.50 would compensate Plaintiff for damages caused by Defendants’ retaliation against him. Id. at 24.

Following the trial, the Court ordered the parties to meet to attempt to resolve any disputes regarding attorney’s fees in the case, but no agreement could be reached. See Doc. 88, Attorney’s Fees Agreement Order; Docs. 93 & 94, Reports Regarding Meeting on Attorney’s Fees. Thus, on March 19, 2015, in accordance with the Court’s instructions, Plaintiff filed the present motions seeking attorney’s fees and liquidated damages. See Docs. 88, 96, 97. On April 9, 2015, Defendants submitted one response addressing both of Plaintiffs post-trial motions (Doc. 100), to which Plaintiff replied (Doc. 101) on April 23, 2015. These motions are now ripe for consideration. Before addressing these motions, the Court begins with a brief review of the law governing claims under the FLSA.

II.

LEGAL STANDARD

The FLSA was passed in 1938 in an effort “to ‘protect all covered workers from substandard wages and oppressive working hours.’ ” Meza v. Intelligent Mexican Mktg., Inc., 720 F.3d 577, 581 (5th Cir.2013) (quoting Barrentine v. Ark-Best Freight Sys., Inc., 450 U.S. 728, 739, 101 S.Ct. 1437, 67 L.Ed.2d 641 (1981)). Given its remedial purposes, courts gener[801]*801ally “construe the FLSA liberally in favor of employees.” McGavock v. City of Water Valley, Miss., 452 F.3d 423, 424 (5th Cir.2006) (citing Arnold v. Ben Kanowsky, Inc., 361 U.S. 388, 392, 80 S.Ct. 453, 4 L.Ed.2d 393 (1960)).

Among its protections, the FLSA requires that employers pay employees “at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate” of pay for any hours the employees work in excess of forty during the workweek. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). To enforce this rule, the FLSA “gives employees the right to bring a private cause of action on their own behalf and on behalf of ‘other employees similarly situated.’ ” Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, — U.S. —, 133 S.Ct. 1523, 1527, 185 L.Ed.2d 636 (2013) (citing 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)). Employees who successfully assert a private cause of action for unpaid overtime wages under the FLSA are entitled to collect damages from their employers “in the amount of ... their unpaid overtime compensation ... and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.” 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). In addition, the FLSA prohibits employers from retaliating against an employee “because such employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to [the FLSA]....” Id. § 215(a)(3).

Prevailing plaintiffs may also collect reasonable attorney’s fees and costs associated with the prosecution of their FLSA claims. See 29 U.S.C. § 216(b); Saizan v. Delta Concrete Products Co., 448 F.3d 795, 799 & n. 7 (5th Cir.2006).

III.

ANALYSIS

In his post-trial motions, Plaintiff requests that the Court award him attorney’s fees and costs, given that he prevailed on his FLSA overtime and retaliation claims. Doc. 96, Pl.’s Mot. for Att’y Fees & Costs (Att’y Fees Mot.) 2; Doc. 102, Addendum to Mot. For Att’y Fees. He further asks that the Court award him liquidated damages in an amount equal to his overtime back-pay award. Doc.

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126 F. Supp. 3d 797, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114152, 2015 WL 5089512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pineda-v-jtch-apartments-llc-txnd-2015.