PHILADELPHIA – A federal judge has approved a settlement agreement made between a former mail carrier and the U.S. Postal Service, finding that it did not violate the tenets of the Fair Labor Standards Act and further OK’ing an award of attorney’s fees.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro made the ruling on Nov. 2, in Lashawn Brown’s lawsuit against the USPS.
“Plaintiff [Brown] avers that she was employed by defendant as an Assistant Rural Carrier from Oct. 7, 2017 until Aug. 19, 2018, and as a City Carrier Assistant from Aug. 20, 2018 until her termination on Nov. 19, 2018. Plaintiff further alleges that defendant violated the FLSA by failing to properly compensate her for all of the hours she worked, including overtime hours, and that, during a period of transition between two work locations, she was not fully compensated for her work in the new location. She also alleges that defendant violated the FMLA when it retaliated against her by terminating her employment after she took a medical leave. Finally, plaintiff alleges that defendant’s conduct was willful,” Quiñones Alejandro said.
“In its answer to the complaint, defendant denied plaintiff’s allegations and asserted five affirmative defenses. Defendant maintains that all of its actions were taken in good faith and with reasonable belief that it was in compliance with the FLSA and the FMLA. Following the close of discovery, the parties conferred and reached an amicable resolution of the disputed claims, memorialized in a settlement agreement.”
According to the settlement agreement, the USPS agreed to pay Brown a total of $4,250, consisting of $1,500 in unpaid earned wages, $1,500 in liquidated damages, and $1,250 in attorney’s fees. In exchange, Brown agreed to dismiss the instant litigation and to the release of any and all claims she have had against the defendant. The parties now sought the Court’s approval of the settlement agreement.
Quiñones Alejandro found, after utilizing parts of the nine-factor Girsh test for evaluating proposed class action settlement agreements, that the agreement was a “fair and reasonable settlement of a bona fide dispute” – and did not violate the standards of the FLSA.
“Had the settlement not been reached, this matter would have proceeded to trial to determine the merits of plaintiff’s claims and defendant’s liability and damages, if any. The continued litigation of plaintiff’s claims would have required significant additional expense and a substantial delay before any potential recovery. Further, no matter the outcome of a trial, either one or both parties may have filed an appeal, leading to further litigation costs and delay in any realized recovery. Thus, the avoidance of the unnecessary expenditure of time and resources benefits the parties and weighs in favor of approving the proposed settlement,” Quiñones Alejandro said.
“Notably, this case has been actively litigated for almost a year. Prior to reaching a settlement, the parties participated in discovery for about six months. As a result of that discovery, the parties had ample opportunity to identify and grasp the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case. Consequently, this Court finds that this factor weighs in favor of approval.”
In addition to other factors weighing in favor of approval, the judge found that the release of claims is “limited to claims related to plaintiff’s employment with defendant arising before the date of the proposed settlement agreement”, and that “such a narrowly tailored release does not frustrate implementation of the FLSA.”
The judge further approved the requested sum in attorney’s fees.
“As compensation for their legal services and efforts, the proposed settlement agreement provides for reimbursement of attorney’s fees in the amount of $1,250. This amount represents 29.4 percent of the total settlement amount. This Court finds this award of attorney’s fees to be reasonable,” Quiñones Alejandro concluded.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-05624
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com