Bonetti v. Embarq Management Co.
22 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. D 51 (M.D. Fla. 2009) (August)
An employee filed an FLSA claim for unpaid overtime against his employer. The employee agreed to settle the claim, but a magistrate judge who reviewed the settlement recommended that it be rejected and replaced with one with reduced attorney’s fees. The Court noted that it was required to approve any FLSA settlement in which the plaintiff received less than his or her initial demand. It further stated that such approval should focus mostly on the reasonableness of attorney’s fees and costs. This means that a court may deem attorney’s fees to be unreasonable even if agreed to by both sides. The Court then stated that such settlements will be approved if they (1) constitute a compromise of the plaintiff’s claims (2) fully disclose the terms of the settlement and reasons for settling and (3) represent that an attorney’s fee amount was agreed to without regard to the amount paid to the plaintiff, it will be approved. In this case, the Court ruled that the parties must amend the settlement because it lack sufficient detail on how the attorney’s fee amount was decided upon.