Combs et al v. The Original Oyster House, Inc.

Filing 56

JUDGMENT entered as to the twenty-six plaintiffs referenced in the concurrent order entered today's date, as further set out. Signed by Magistrate Judge William E. Cassady on 7/24/2014. (clr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
SHARON COMBS, MELINDA WOOD, :
ANGELIA HOUSE, and DEBORAH
PARTON,
:
Plaintiffs,

:

vs.

:

THE ORIGINAL OYSTER HOUSE,
INC.,

CA 14-0172-C

:

Defendant.
JUDGMENT
As to the twenty-six plaintiffs referenced in the concurrent order entered today’s
date, JUDGMENT IS HEREBY ENTERED AS FOLLOWS:
1.

Defendant, Original Oyster House, Inc., shall pay to the settling plaintiffs

the sums hereinafter set forth, in equal monthly installments as identified,
encompassing both allegedly unpaid wages and equal amounts of liquidated damages,
save with respect to additional compromises reached with four opt-in plaintiffs, as
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follows:

As explained by the parties in their joint motion, “the offers made to Plaintiffs
proposed to pay for all hours Defendant recorded and claimed a ‘tip credit’ during the
uncontested two year liability period [defined as the two years prior to a particular plaintiff’s
opt-in date] without examining whether or not ‘tip outs’ were paid to either oyster shuckers or
expeditors by a particular server on a given shift[,]” with four noted exceptions. (Doc. 48, at ¶ 4
& n.4.) With respect to opt-in plaintiffs Crystal Harden, Jude Sanford, and Kelly Stewart,
Oyster House provided counsel for plaintiffs copies of records showing “their acceptance of
refunds of the ‘tip outs’ paid to the oyster shuckers and ‘tip outs’ paid to the expeditors from
those particular Plaintiffs’ tips[]” and these three opt-in plaintiffs “agreed to deduct these
refund amounts from the ‘tip credit’ calculation[]” since the payments made to them were made
after the instant lawsuit was filed. (Id. at n.4.) The final exception involves Shelli Barnes who
was offered only $1,000.00 to settle because “Defendant provided records showing that [she]
did not work at all for Defendant during the two-year period prior to her opt in date, and thus
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(Continued)

Name
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.
u.
v.
w.
x.
y.
z.
2.

Judgment Amount

Shelli Barnes
Richard Boyette
Matthew Brown
Ashley Carson
Cecilly Compton
Kory Dees
Crystal Harden
Jennifer Howland
Letitia Jackson
Leon Knight
Nancy Lanham
Marshall Lipscomb
Jason Middleton
Jude Sanford
Ken Sinclair
Stephen Smith
Danielle Souza
Kelly Stewart
Matthew Suleski
Zakkary Toth
Karen Trammell
Ryan Traudt
Michael Watson
Lauren Whitehead
Melinda Wood
Joshua Yeend

$1,000.00
$11,875.00
$4,525.00
$26,205.00
$12,950.00
$1,950.00
$22,920.00
$10,050.00
$11,675.00
$2,735.00
$26,100.00
$14,775.00
$22,225.00
$21,945.00
$16,400.00
$4,200.00
$29,000.00
$20,500.00
$5,025.00
$6,500.00
$10,300.00
$22,510.00
$13,150.00
$16,750.00
$23,740.00
$26,375.00

Monthly Payments
1
4
2
4
4
1
4
4
4
1
4
4
4
4
4
2
2
4
2
3
4
4
4
4
2
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Defendant also shall pay the settling plaintiffs’ reasonable costs and

attorney’s fees totaling $42,937.50.
3.

This Judgment has been reached as a compromise of disputed claims and

is not to be deemed an admission of fault or liability by the Original Oyster House, Inc.
4.

This Judgment provides a total resolution and complete satisfaction of any

and all claims and allegations by the settling plaintiffs against the defendant which are
or could have been asserted in this action.

her claims could be barred under [the] FLSA two-year statute of limitations if it is determined
that the three-year statute [of] limitation[s] period for willful violations does not apply.” (Id.)

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5.

This Judgment shall act to dismiss all claims of the settling plaintiffs

against the defendant with prejudice.
DONE this the 24th day of July, 2014.
s/WILLIAM E. CASSADY
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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