Talik Garcia, on behalf of himself, FLSA Collective Plaintiffs, and the Class v. Pop A Lock New York Inc., Automotive Locksmith Supply Inc., All City Services & Dispatch Inc., Carl Napolitano, Nicholas Napolitano, and Jennifer Cannizzaro

District Court, E.D. New York·Decided August 10, 2026·No. 1:22-cv-05305·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------------------------X TALIK GARCIA, on behalf of himself, FLSA Collective Plaintiffs, and the Class, Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM AND ORDER -against- 22 CV 5305 (RML) POP A LOCK NEW YORK INC., AUTOMOTIVE LOCKSMITH SUPPLY INC., ALL CITY SERVICES & DISPATCH INC., CARL NAPOLITANO, NICHOLAS NAPOLITANO, and JENNIFER CANNIZZARO, Defendants. --------------------------------------------------------X LEVY, United States Magistrate Judge: This case is before me on consent of the parties, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73. (Consent to Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction, so ordered Sept. 29, 2023, Dkt. No. 24.) On March 13, 2026, plaintiff filed his third motion for default judgment and attorney’s fees. (Third Motion for Default Judgment and Attorney’s Fees, dated Mar. 13, 2026, Dkt. No. 64.) For the reasons stated below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Talik Garcia (“plaintiff” or “Garcia”) initiated this action against his former employers, Pop A Lock New York Inc. (“Pop A Lock”), Automotive Locksmith Supply Inc. (“Automotive”), All City Services & Dispatch Inc. (“All City”) (collectively, the “corporate defendants”), and Carl Napolitano, Nicholas Napolitano, and Jennifer Cannizzaro (collectively, the “individual defendants”) (together with the corporate defendants, “defendants”) for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), New York Labor Law (“NYLL”), New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), and New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”). (Complaint, filed Sept. 7, 2022 (“Compl.”), Dkt. No. 1.) The following facts, as drawn from the complaint and affidavits, are accepted as true for the purposes of this motion. (Id.; Declaration of C.K. Lee, Esq., sworn to Mar. 13, 2026 (“Lee Decl.”), Dkt. No. 65;

Declaration of Talik Garcia, sworn to Aug. 28, 2024 (“Garcia Decl.”), Dkt. No. 66.) I. Facts Defendants own and operate a locksmith business at 765 Forest Avenue, Staten Island, New York. (Compl. ¶ 9.) Each of the corporate defendants is a domestic corporation with a principal place of business located at 765 Forest Avenue, Staten Island, New York. (Id. ¶¶ 10–12.) The individual defendants own and operate Pop A Lock and Automotive, exercise operational control over the corporate defendants, and exercise the power to (i) hire and fire employees, (ii) supervise and control employee work schedules, (iii) determine the rate and method of employee pay, (iv) maintain employment records, and (v) otherwise affect the quality, terms, and conditions of employment. (Id. ¶¶ 13–15.) Defendants’ roadside assistance services

generated gross yearly revenues of between approximately $2,190,000 and $3,650,000 during plaintiff’s employment. (Garcia Decl. ¶ 10.) Plaintiff, a Kings County resident, worked for defendants as a driver from around October 2021 until June 26, 2022. (Id. ¶ 3; Compl. ¶¶ 7, 30.) Plaintiff performed personal roadside assistance services, including changing flat tires, providing gas, and jumpstarting car batteries. (Garcia Decl. ¶ 6.) Throughout plaintiff’s employment, defendants required him to use vehicles, supplies, and equipment that were imported into New York and purchased from vendors located within and outside New York. (Id. ¶ 12.) Defendants’ retail products were also imported into New York. (Id.) “From the start of his employment until in or around November 2021,” plaintiff worked twelve hours per day five days per week for a total of sixty hours per week. (Compl. ¶ 31.) “From in or around November 2021 until the end of his employment,” plaintiff worked eight hours per day three times per week and twelve hours per day twice per week for a total of

forty-eight hours per week. (Id.; see also Garcia Decl. ¶ 4.) Plaintiff’s regular and overtime pay rates were $16 and $24 per hour, respectively. (Compl. ¶ 32; Garcia Decl. ¶ 5.) However, due to defendants’ policy of rounding down daily hours worked to the nearest hour, plaintiff was not paid overtime for all hours he worked over forty each week. (Compl. ¶¶ 34–35.) Plaintiff also spent between approximately $400 and $650 per week to maintain the company vehicle and purchase his own tools, “such as jacks, jumper cables, slim jims, wheel lock tools and air compression tools,” none of which defendants reimbursed. (Id. ¶ 36; see also Memorandum of Law in Support of Third Motion, dated Mar. 13, 2026 (“Mem.”), Dkt. No. 58, at 6–7 (“Plaintiff was required to spend approximately $400.00 per week, to (i) maintain the company vehicle Defendants provided him (including gas) and (ii)

purchase tools necessary for the performance of duties Defendants assigned to him.”).) Additionally, plaintiff claims that defendants “failed to provide wage and hour notices, at the date of hiring and annually thereafter,” (Compl. ¶¶ 37, 40), and that his wage statements were inaccurate (id. ¶ 38). The complaint further alleges that plaintiff suffered constant abuse and harassment at work on account of his race. (Id. ¶¶ 42–46.) “Throughout his employment,” plaintiff, who is African American, “was constantly, on a daily basis, called ‘nigger’ by his Manager Luis.” (Id. ¶ 43 (“Luis [ ] would say things like, ‘What’s up Nigger?’ and ‘Hurry up Nigger.’”).) Plaintiff told his manager “several times” that “he did not want to be called a ‘Nigger’” but “Luis continued to call Plaintiff a ‘Nigger.’” (Id. ¶ 44.) Plaintiff and other African American employees “were given the hardest routes” and plaintiff “was given a car without air conditioning.” (Id. ¶ 45.) “When Plaintiff complained about this to Manager Luis, nothing was done.” (Id. ¶ 46.)

II. Procedural History On September 7, 2022, plaintiff initiated this action against defendants, seeking unpaid wages, unreimbursed costs for tools of the trade, liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees and costs under the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. and NYLL; statutory penalties under NYLL; and back wages, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs under the NYSHRL and NYCHRL. (Compl. ¶¶ 1–4.) Defendants appeared through counsel on November 2, 2022 (Notice of Appearance, dated Nov. 2, 2022, Dkt. No. 12), and filed an answer on December 9, 2022 (Answer, dated Dec. 9, 2022, Dkt. No. 17). After an unsuccessful mediation and stalled discovery, counsel for defendants, Michael J. DeSantis, Esq., moved to withdraw his representation, citing an “irretrievably broken down” attorney-client relationship. (Motion to

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Talik Garcia, on behalf of himself, FLSA Collective Plaintiffs, and the Class v. Pop A Lock New York Inc., Automotive Locksmith Supply Inc., All City Services & Dispatch Inc., Carl Napolitano, Nicholas Napolitano, and Jennifer Cannizzaro, (E.D.N.Y. 2026).

Talik Garcia, on behalf of himself, FLSA Collective Plaintiffs, and the Class v. Pop A Lock New York Inc., Automotive Locksmith Supply Inc., All City Services & Dispatch Inc., Carl Napolitano, Nicholas Napolitano, and Jennifer Cannizzaro (Talik Garcia, on behalf of himself, FLSA Collective Plaintiffs, and the Class v. Pop A Lock New York Inc., Automotive Locksmith Supply Inc., All City Services & Dispatch Inc., Carl Napolitano, Nicholas Napolitano, and Jennifer Cannizzaro) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

La Grande v. DeCrescente Distributing Co., Inc.
370 F. App'x 206 (Second Circuit, 2010)
Priestley v. Headminder, Inc.
647 F.3d 497 (Second Circuit, 2011)
Millea v. Metro-North Railroad
658 F.3d 154 (Second Circuit, 2011)
Louis Carter v. Dutchess Community College
735 F.2d 8 (Second Circuit, 1984)
Lunday v. City Of Albany
42 F.3d 131 (Second Circuit, 1994)
Payne v. Jones
711 F.3d 85 (Second Circuit, 2013)
Irizarry v. Catsimatidis
722 F.3d 99 (Second Circuit, 2013)
Finkel v. Romanowicz
577 F.3d 79 (Second Circuit, 2009)
Barfield v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corp.
537 F.3d 132 (Second Circuit, 2008)
Greenbaum v. Handelsbanken
67 F. Supp. 2d 228 (S.D. New York, 1999)
TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez
594 U.S. 413 (Supreme Court, 2021)
Chauca v. Abraham
89 N.E.3d 475 (Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors, 2017)
Salinas v. Starjem Restaurant Corp.
123 F. Supp. 3d 442 (S.D. New York, 2015)
Duarte v. St. Barnabas Hosp.
341 F. Supp. 3d 306 (S.D. Illinois, 2018)