Lawtone-Bowles et al v. City of New York, New York
| Nicole Lawtone-Bowles, Ramzan Alli, Gib Brown, Lance Predmore, Charles Smith and Dennis Tobin |
| City of New York, New York |
| 1:2016cv04240 |
| June 7, 2016 |
| US District Court for the Southern District of New York |
| Foley Square Office |
| Orange |
| Alison J. Nathan |
| Fair Labor Standards Act |
| 28 U.S.C. ยง 1331 |
| Plaintiff |
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Filing
157
OPINION & ORDER re: (100 in 1:18-cv-04338-AJN) JOINT MOTION for Settlement Approval pursuant to Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc.. filed by James Bookman, (155 in 1:16-cv-04240-AJN) JOINT MOTION for Settlement Approval pursua nt to Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc.. filed by Nicole Lawtone-Bowles. For the reasons below, the Court APPROVES the settlement. The Total Settlement is $962,323.00, allocated as: $147,614.00 in backpay, $152,476.00 in l iquidated damages, $1,000.00 service award to lead plaintiff, Nicole Lawtone-Bowles, $605,549.00 for attorneys' fees, and $55,684.00 for costs. In other words, Plaintiffs' recovery is $300,090.00 for backpay and liqu idated damages, which represents 75% of Plaintiffs' total claimed damages using a three-year recovery period and a full award of liquidated damages. (ECF 155-3 8). The average net settlement amount to each Plaintiff is $15,794.21. Pl aintiffs' counsel would receive a total of $661,233.00 in attorneys' fees and costs. Given the risks of litigation as noted below, the Courts finds this amount reasonable. The attorneys' fees and costs award of $661,233.00 i s high, but ultimately reasonable. The award represents 68.7% of the total award. Although there is not a proportionality requirement, attorney fees settlements generally amount to a third of the settlement award. Multiplying the hourly rates h ere by the hours of work performed results in a lodestar of $848,151.27. (ECF 155 at 14). In comparison, the fees requested are $605,549.00. The lodestar cross-check results in a multiplier under one, 0.71. Courts often approve multipliers higher than this. The $1,000.00 service award to Ms. Lawtone-Bowles is appropriate. The award to Ms. Lawtone-Bowles is well within the range of awards in this district. See, e.g., Byrant v. Potbelly Sandwich Works, LLC, No. 17-CV-7638 (CM) (HB P), 2020 WL 563804, at *22 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 4, 2020) (approving service awards between $2,500 and $5,000 to certain plaintiffs). For the foregoing reasons, the Court APPROVES the parties' proposed settlement agreement, No. 16-CV-4240 ECF 155 and No. 18-CV-4338 ECF 100, as fair and reasonable. The Clerk of Court is directed to close all open motions in No. 16-CV-4240 and No. 18-CV-4338. (Signed by Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang on 4/8/2021) (nb)
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Filing
154
ORDER. The Court is in receipt of the notice, consent, and reference forms submitted by the parties in these matters, and the voicemail message left on behalf of the parties this morning. Because the parties used the form for reference of a dispositi ve motion, the Court is unable to process the forms until the motion for settlement approval has been filed. The Court will enter the reference orders once the parties file their motion. The magistrate judge assigned to these cases is the Honorable Ona T. Wang. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 2/9/2021) (rjm)
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Filing
151
ORDER granting 150 Letter Motion for Extension of Time to File. SO ORDERED.. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 1/14/2021) (ks)
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Filing
147
ORDER: On October 27, the parties informed the Court that they wished to proceed to trial during the week of March 8, 2021. See Dkt. No. 140. The Court accordingly requested a jury trial for that date. The Clerk's Office has now notified the Cou rt that this case has been placed on the trial-ready list for the week of March 8, 2021. The case must be trial-ready for that date. This means that the case may proceed during the week of March 8, 2021, if all of the scheduled cases for any day duri ng that week do not go forward. If the case cannot proceed during the week of March 8, 2021, the Court will seek another jury trial date for as soon as possible thereafter. As soon as the Court confirms that the matter will proceed during the week of March 8, 2021, it will inform the parties of date during that week that the trial will commence. The Court previously entered a schedule for the submission of joint pretrial materials, which are due January 13, 2021. See Dkt. No 146. A final pretri al conference is scheduled for February 26, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. See Dkt. No. 132. (Ready for Trial by 3/8/2021. Final Pretrial Conference set for 2/26/2021 at 11:00 AM before Judge Alison J. Nathan.) (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 12/11/2020) (jwh)
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Filing
146
ORDER granting 144 JOINT LETTER MOTION for Extension of Time to File Joint Pretrial Report. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 12/8/2020) (jca)
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Filing
142
SCHEDULING ORDER granting 141 Letter Motion to Adjourn Conference. The November 5, 2020 pre-settlement call is hereby rescheduled to December 2, 2020 at 2:00 pm. Chambers will email instructions for the call. The Clerk of Court is directed to close 16-CV-4240 ECF 141 and 18-CV-4338 ECF 86. SO ORDERED. ( Telephone Conference set for 12/2/2020 at 02:00 PM before Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang.) (Signed by Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang on 10/28/20) (yv)
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Filing
139
ORDER. The parties are hereby ORDERED to meet and confer and submit a joint letter by October 27, 2020, responding to the following questions: 1. In the event that this case proceeds to trial, do all parties consent to a bench trial before this Court ? If either party does not consent to a bench trial, the parties shall advise the Court that they do not consent, but without disclosing the identity of the party or parties who do not consent. The parties are free to withhold consent without negativ e consequences. 2. If the parties instead elect to proceed with a jury trial, are they prepared to proceed to trial on the scheduled date? If the parties do not consent to a bench trial and indicate that they are ready to proceed with a jury trial on the scheduled date, the Court will request a jury for that date, consistent with the protocols implemented by the Southern District. In that event, the parties shall be prepared to proceed to trial as of that date and on each following week through March 2021. The Court will provide the parties as much notice as possible about whether their case will proceed to trial during any of those weeks. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 10/20/2020) (rjm)
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Filing
126
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER. For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is granted with respect to its claims that Defendant improperly calculated the rate of overtime compensation (Count 2 of the Amended Complaint in 16-cv-4240 and Counts 2 and 4 of the Complaint in 18-cv-4338). Plaintiffs' motion is otherwise denied. Defendant's motion for summary judgment is denied in its entirely. Within two weeks of the date of this order, the parties should submit a joint le tter proposing trial dates for December of 2019 and January of 2020. Their letter should also include an estimated length of trial and advise whether the parties seek referral to the S.D.N.Y.'s mediation program or to the Magistrate Judge for a settlement conference. This resolves Dkt. Nos. 100 and 104 in 16-cv-4240, and Dkt. Nos. 46 and 50 in 18-cv-4338. Granting in part and denying in part 100 Motion for Summary Judgment; Denying 104 Motion for Summary Judgment. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 67/1/2020) (rjm)
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Filing
36
MEMORANDUM & ORDER granting in part and denying in part 17 Motion to Dismiss. For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the City's motion to dismiss. The Court DENIES the motion to dismiss Count I (failu re to pay overtime) in its entirety. Count II (failure to properly calculate overtime regular rate of pay) is dismissed as to Plaintiffs Alli and Predmore. Count III (untimely payment of overtime) is dismissed as to Plaintiffs Alli, Smith, Predmore, and Tobin. An initial pretrial conference shall be scheduled in a separate order. This resolves Docket Number 17. (Signed by Judge Alison J. Nathan on 9/22/2017) (mro)
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