Robles Sanchez v. Payam Inc.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DELOECCUTMREONNTIC ALLY FILED SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOC #: ------------------------------------------------------------ X DATE FILED: 10/17/ 2022 CARLOS AGOSTIN ROBLES SANCHEZ, : : : Plaintiff, : 21-CV-9628 (VEC) : -against- : ORDER : PAYAM INC., PAPRIKA II LLC, and PAPRIKA LLC , : : Defendants. : ------------------------------------------------------------ X VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge: WHEREAS on October 13, 2022, the parties submitted a proposed settlement agreement for the Court’s approval pursuant to Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc., 796 F.3d 199 (2d Cir. 2015), see Dkt. 18; WHEREAS the proposed settlement provides for a total recovery of $10,000, with a third of the recovery ($3,333.33) awarded to Plaintiff’s counsel for fees and costs, see id.; WHEREAS counsel’s requested fee is less than half the lodestar amount based on counsel’s billing rates and time entries, see id. Ex. 2; WHEREAS the Court finds that counsel’s requested fee and the settlement amount for the case are reasonable; and WHEREAS the proposed settlement agreement contains a release that is far broader than just wage-and-hour claims, see Dkt. 48 Ex. 2, ¶¶ 1(a)–(d); IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the proposed settlement agreement is not approved as fair and reasonable because of the breadth of the release. The Court would be prepared to approve as fair a settlement that releases all wage-and-hour law claims. The parties may submit, no later than October 28, 2022, a revised settlement agreement that is consistent with this Order if they wish to proceed with the settlement. See Fisher v. SD Prot. Inc., 2020 WL 550470, at *8 (2d Cir. Feb. 4, 2020). SO ORDERED. . -

Date: October 17, 2022 New York, NY VALERIE CAPRONI United States District Judge