United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Orlando Division
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
DANIEL
C. IRICK UNITES STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This
cause comes before the Court for consideration following oral
argument on the following motion:
MOTION: JOINT MOTION TO APPROVE SETTLEMENT (Doc.
19)
FILED: April 27, 2018
THEREON it is Recommended that the motion be
GRANTED.
I.
BACKGROUND
On
November 22, 2017, Plaintiff filed a Complaint against
Defendants alleging a cause of action for alleged violations
of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act
(the FLSA). Doc. 1. On December 21, 2017, Defendants filed
their Answer and Affirmative Defenses. Doc. 9. On February
19, 2018, Plaintiff filed a response to the Court's
interrogatories. Docs. 16; 16-1. Therein, Plaintiff alleged
that Defendants owed him approximately $5, 896.80 in overtime
wages for the period from September 2014 through September
2017, but those answers also acknowledged that Defendants
asserted that they purchased the business at issue in July
2017, and that Plaintiff only worked for Defendants for a few
weeks in 2017. Doc. 16-1.
On
April 27, 2018, the parties filed a joint motion to approve
settlement and therein informed the Court that the parties
“did not prepare or execute a Settlement Agreement and
Release.” Docs. 19 (the Motion). The Court held a
hearing on the Motion to determine the exact terms of the
settlement agreement and discuss the issue of attorney fees.
At the hearing, the parties confirmed that this matter has
been settled via an oral settlement agreement (the
Agreement). The only terms of the Agreement are as follows:
Plaintiff has agreed to dismiss this case with prejudice in
exchange for payment of $600.00 in overtime wages and $600.00
in liquidated damages. According to the parties, this
represents full compensation for the few weeks that Plaintiff
worked for Defendants. Defendants have also agreed to pay
Plaintiff's counsel $800.00 in attorney fees and costs
and, according to the parties, the issue of attorney fees was
negotiated separate and apart from the amount owed Plaintiff.
The parties confirmed at the hearing that the Agreement
contains no other terms, and it appears that the Agreement
was negotiated in this manner in an effort to minimize costs
to all sides and provide Plaintiff with full compensation for
the overtime he worked for Defendants.
II.
LAW
The
settlement of a claim for unpaid minimum or overtime wages
under the FLSA may become enforceable by obtaining the
Court's approval of the settlement
agreement.[1] Lynn's Food Stores, Inc. v. U.S.
Dep't of Labor, 679 F.2d 1350, 1352-53 (11th Cir.
1982). The Court, before giving its approval, must scrutinize
the settlement agreement to determine whether it is a fair
and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute of plaintiff
s FLSA claims. See id at 1353-55. In doing so, the
Court should consider the following nonexclusive factors:
.The existence of collusion behind the
settlement.
.The complexity, expense, and likely
duration of the litigation.
.The state of the proceedings and the amount
of discovery ...