Tangtiwatanapaibul v. Tom & Toon Inc

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 24, 2021
Docket1:17-cv-00816
StatusUnknown

This text of Tangtiwatanapaibul v. Tom & Toon Inc (Tangtiwatanapaibul v. Tom & Toon Inc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tangtiwatanapaibul v. Tom & Toon Inc, (S.D.N.Y. 2021).

Opinion

USDC SDNY DOCUMENT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ELECTRONICALLY FILED SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOC #: nnn nnn nn wanna □□□ nnn nnn mannan cena aK DATE FILED: 8/24/2021 SRISUWAN TANGTIWATANAPAIBUL ON BEHALF OF THEMSELVES AND OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED a/k/a ANNE TANGTIWATANAPAIBUL, et al., Plaintiffs, OPINION AND ORDER PURSUANT TO RULE 60 -against- 1:17-cv-00816 (KHP) TOM & TOON INC d/b/a BROADWAY THAI, et al., Defendants. +--+ +--+ ----X KATHARINE H. PARKER, United States Magistrate Judge: On February 2, 2017, Plaintiffs, who all worked at the Defendant restaurants, commenced this action against the restaurants and their owners asserting claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq, and the New York Labor Law §§ 190- 1999a, 650-665 (“NYLL”), for failure to pay appropriate wages and provide required wage notices. On June 26, 2019, the parties settled this action at a settlement conference before this Court by signing a Term Sheet that contained the material terms of the agreement and explicitly set forth that those terms were binding as of that date. The parties contemplated preparing a more formalized settlement agreement. Although the Plaintiffs’ counsel prepared a formal agreement, that agreement was never fully executed by all parties. Nor did the parties ever fully execute any other formal agreement. This Court attempted to assist the parties, but ultimately Plaintiffs’ counsel indicated their desire to bring an enforcement action. This Court therefore approved the settlement reached at the June 26, 2019 conference, based on the terms set forth in the binding Term Sheet, pursuant to Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc.,

796 F.3d 199 (2d Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 824 (2016), and dismissed the action. This Court issued that order on October 13, 2020 and dismissed the action, declining to retain jurisdiction. (ECF No. 205.)

On October 27, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a request for clarification of the Court’s dismissal order and objected to dismissal of the case. (ECF No. 206.) On November 12, 2020, Plaintiffs filed an appeal of this Court’s dismissal of the case. (ECF No. 207.) The Second Circuit then stayed the appeal to allow this Court to act on the Plaintiffs’ motion at ECF No. 206. This Opinion resolves Plaintiff’s motion at ECF No. 206 and clarifies its Order of Dismissal at ECF No.

205, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(a). BACKGROUND The parties, along with their respective attorneys, attended an in-person settlement conference before the undersigned on June 26, 2019.1 (ECF No. 171.) At the conclusion of the conference, the parties entered into a settlement agreement memorialized by a Settlement Agreement Term Sheet (“Term Sheet”), attached hereto, signed by counsel as well as the

attending parties. The Term Sheet was drafted by the Court when the parties reached agreement, and the undersigned witnessed the signing of the Term Sheet and retained a copy of the fully executed Term Sheet. The Term Sheet, in pertinent part, provided for a settlement in the total amount of $72,000, inclusive of attorneys’ fees and costs, to be paid over 24 months, in monthly installments of $3,000 per month, commencing within 10 days after court approval of the settlement. It also provided for a 10-day notice and cure period in the event of

1 Two of the Plaintiffs were removed from the United States and now reside in Laos. Their presence was excused from the settlement conference and Plaintiffs’ counsel came with authority to act on their behalf. Defendant Toon Lau attended on behalf of himself and the corporate Defendants, and Defense counsel had authority to act on Defendant Wai Ying Lau’s behalf. a default on any installment, as well as an acceleration of the remainder of the settlement plus a penalty of twice the remaining amount due in the event the default was not cured. It provided that Defendants were not admitting liability and that Plaintiffs where providing a

release of the claims raised in the litigation. Additionally, it provided that Plaintiffs’ counsel would receive one-third of the settlement amount of their attorneys’ fees plus costs. The parties contemplated preparing a more formal written agreement and that Defendants would provide confessions of judgment that could be filed in state court should they default and not timely cure the default. However, the parties expressly indicated that the material terms of the

settlement as reflected in the Term Sheet were binding as of June 26, 2019. Finally, the parties consented to this Court’s jurisdiction for approval of the settlement. That same day, the parties signed a Notice, Consent, and Reference of a Civil Action to A Magistrate Judge (“Consent Stipulation”) form consenting to my jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) for purposes of approving the settlement and dismissing the case. There was no requirement of a stipulation of dismissal in the Term Sheet. Nor did the Term Sheet explicitly require the more formal

settlement document to be filed with the Court prior to the Court’s review and approval of the settlement reflected in the binding Term Sheet. (ECF No. 172.) The Consent Stipulation was entered by the Honorable Lorna G. Schofield on June 28, 2019, transferring the case to the undersigned for all purposes. There was considerable delay in the preparation and signing of a more formal settlement agreement, and this Court attempted several times to speed that process along.

(See ECF Nos. 175-179.) On January 9, 2020, the Court held an in-person conference to inquire from the parties about their reasons for not presenting the Court with the final settlement papers. (ECF No. 181.) Plaintiffs’ counsel presented a 40-page document to the Court as its formal agreement. Defense counsel had some concerns with the draft. The conference ended without a meeting of the minds on a final agreement. The individual Plaintiffs who were

present at the conference signed the document on January 9, 2020 and the Plaintiffs who were in Laos apparently signed on January 13, 2020, although their signatures were not acknowledged before a counselor official of the United States as contemplated in the document. (ECF No. 206-2.) The January 9, 2020 written agreement contained the same material terms as the Term

Sheet but provided additional provisions and details, including the allocation of the settlement proceeds among the four Plaintiffs, that the confessions of judgment would be signed concurrently with the signing of the agreement, additional provisions in the event one of the settlement checks did not clear, a provision that Defendants would be responsible for Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and costs incurred during judgment lien enforcement proceedings, an agreement by Plaintiffs to dismiss and withdraw the action by executing a Stipulation of

Voluntary Discontinuance with Prejudice, and that signatures of the parties had to be notarized or, for parties living abroad, signed before and acknowledged by a counselor official of the United States. The written agreement also provided that it could not be modified except by a writing signed by all parties. Insofar as the parties had reached a binding agreement as to the material terms reflected in the Term Sheet, the agreement did not contain a date specifying its “effective date” or condition its becoming effective on the provision of confessions of judgment

by Defendants.

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Bluebook (online)
Tangtiwatanapaibul v. Tom & Toon Inc, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tangtiwatanapaibul-v-tom-toon-inc-nysd-2021.