STEVENS v. 3 SQUARES DINER, LLC

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA VALDOSTA DIVISION

JAMES STEVENS et al., : : Plaintiffs, : : v. : CASE NO.: 7:24-CV-00027 (WLS) : 3 SQUARES DINER LLC, : : Defendant. : : ORDER The Court recently scheduled a hearing to investigate the pending joint-Motion to Approve Settlement (Doc. 39) and Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorneys’ Fees (Doc. 38). The Court requires supplemental briefing on an additional issue. The Parties should address the following issue: Does Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, LLC, 975 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. 2020) prohibit Plaintiff Stevens from receiving an incentive payment in exchange for releasing all claims? Under the Proposed Settlement Agreement Stevens will receive $5,000 in exchange for an agreement to generally release all claims. (Doc. 36-3 at 6.) Yet in Johnson, the Eleventh Circuit rejected a class- action settlement because it paid an incentive to the named plaintiff. Many district courts have applied this reasoning to invalidate incentives to named plaintiffs in FLSA collective actions. See Turner v. Rosen Hotels & Resorts, Inc., No. 6:21-CV-161, 2022 WL 3046834, at *6–8 (M.D. Fla. June 15, 2022), report and recommendation adopted, 2022 WL 3042512 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 2, 2022); McMurray v. Formel D, No. 2:19-CV-548, 2022 WL 21712587, at *7–8 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 30, 2022); Lochren v. Horne LLP, No. 6:21-CV-1640, 2023 WL 7411114, at *6–9 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 19, 2023), report and recommendation adopted, 2023 WL 9792603 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 20, 2023); Blessinger v. Wells Fargo & Co., No. 8:22-CV-1029, 2023 WL 8458253, at *9–11 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 20, 2023), report and recommendation adopted, 2023 WL 8432223 (M.D. Fla. Dec. 5, 2023). The Parties failed to address Johnson in their Motion to Approve Settlement. So the Court gives them an opportunity to do so before the settlement hearing. The briefing must reference any relevant controlling Eleventh Circuit authority. Thus, the Parties are ORDERED to submit a supplemental brief addressing this issue no later than Wednesday, August 27, 2025. The brief should be no longer than five pages. If necessary, the Court will include Johnson among the topics to be discussed at the hearing.

SO ORDERED, this 6th day of August 2025.

/s/ W. Louis Sands W. LOUIS SANDS, SR. JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT