Outland v. Arizona Movers and Storage Incorporated et al

Filing 52

ORDERED: Plaintiff's 40 Motion to Amend [Default] Judgment is granted. Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff Adrienne Outland and against Defendants Arizona Movers & Storage, Inc. and Hashem Abouzeid for unpaid wages in the amount of & #036;7,110.00. Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendants Arizona Movers & Storage, Inc. and Hashem Abouzeid for liquidated damages in the amount of $7,110, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b). Plaintiff's 41 M otion for Attorney Fees is granted in part. Plaintiffs Counsel is awarded attorneys fees in the amount of $12,997.00. Defendants Arizona Movers & Storage, Inc. and Hashem Abouzeid are jointly and severally liable for payment of attorneys fees and costs. Signed by Senior Judge Raner C Collins on 5/28/2019. (BAR)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Adrienne Outland,
Plaintiff,

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ORDER

v.

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No. CV-18-01370-PHX-RCC

Arizona Movers & Storage et al.,

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Defendants.

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Pending before the Court is Adrienne Outland’s Motion to Amend Judgment (Doc.

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40) and Motion for Award of Attorneys’ Fees (Doc. 41.) The Court will grant the Motion

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to Amend the Court’s default judgment and grant the Motion for Attorneys’ Fees at a rate

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of $325.00 an hour.

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I.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT
Pursuant to federal statute,
Any employer who violates the provisions of [minimum wage law] and
[overtime law] shall be liable to the employee . . . affected in the amount of
their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the
case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. . . .
The court in such action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to the
plaintiff . . . , allow a reasonable attorney’s fee to be paid by the defendant,
and costs of the action.

29 U.S.C. § 216(b). For overtime compensation, an employee who works in excess of
forty hours in a workweek should receive “compensation . . . at a rate not less than one and
one-half times the regular rate at which [s]he is employed.” 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(2)(C).

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Here, Plaintiff worked for Defendants for thirteen months between June 2016 to

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July 2017, but was incorrectly classified as an independent contractor. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 49.)

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Due to the error, Plaintiff was not paid minimum wage or overtime for her work, which

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resulted in $7,110.00 in unpaid wages. (Doc. 40 at 2.) In addition, Plaintiff alleged she is

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owed an additional equal amount of $7,110.00 in liquidated damages. Id. Default judgment

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was entered against Defendants Arizona Movers & Storage and Hashem Abouzeid on

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March 1, 2019, but without a specific monetary amount to be awarded to Plaintiff. (Doc.

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38.) The Court agrees with Plaintiff’s calculations and will award her default judgment in

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the amount of $14,220.00 for unpaid overtime, minimum wage, and liquidated damages.

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II.

ATTORNEY’S FEES

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Under the FLSA, a prevailing party may be afforded reasonable attorney’s fees and

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costs. 29 U.S.C. § 216(b); see also 42 U.S.C. § 1988. To gage the reasonableness of an

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attorney’s fees, the fee award is based on the “lodestar,” which is “the number of hours

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reasonably expended on the litigation” multiplied by “a reasonable hourly rate.” Hensley

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v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424, 433 (1983). Under LRCiv 54.2(c)(3), factors the court may

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consider when determining the reasonableness of the amount requested include: (a) time

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and labor required; (b) difficulty of the issues; (c) skill needed; (d) the customary fee in
similar litigation; (e) whether fee is fixed or contingent; (f) the results obtained; (g) awards
in similar actions; and (h) anything else deemed appropriate. Reasonable attorney rates are
not simply what an attorney charged a client but are determined “by the rate prevailing in
the community for similar work performed by attorneys of comparable skill, experience,
and reputation.” Schwarz v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 73 F.3d 895, 908 (9th Cir.
1995).
Plaintiff’s attorneys were hired on a contingency basis with a Representation
Agreement that included a flat rate of $325.00 per hour. (Ex. A, Doc. 41-1.) In addition,
counsel concedes that this district recently determined that $325.00 per hour was a
reasonable rate. (Doc. 41 at 5.) However, because Defendants Arizona Movers & Storage
and Hashem Abouzeid have refused to defend this matter, the time, labor, and complexity
of this case is minimal. In addition, while counsel contends that a higher rate per hour is
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reasonable, this higher rate was decided in the Northern District of Ohio, and the Court

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must consider the reasonable rate according to the state in which the claim is being litigated.

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See Davis v. Mason Cty., 927 F.2d 1473, 1488 (9th Cir. 1991). Counsel has sufficiently

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shown that $325.00 an hour is a reasonable rate for both attorneys in the state of Arizona.

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Counsel has documented 37.9 hours of work; at $325.00 an hour, the total amount equals

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$12,317.50. Adding counsels’ out of pocket costs of $679.50 results in attorneys’ fees in

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the amount of $12,997.00.

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Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED:
1. Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend [Default] Judgment is GRANTED. (Doc. 40.)

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2. Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff Adrienne Outland and against Defendants

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Arizona Movers & Storage, Inc. and Hashem Abouzeid for unpaid wages in the

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amount of $7,110.00.

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3. Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendants Arizona Movers

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& Storage, Inc. and Hashem Abouzeid for liquidated damages in the amount of

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$7,110, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).

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4. Plaintiff’s Counsel’s Motion for Attorneys’ Fees is GRANTED IN PART. (Doc.
41.) Plaintiff’s Counsel is awarded attorneys’ fees in the amount of $12,997.00.
5. Defendants Arizona Movers & Storage, Inc. and Hashem Abouzeid are jointly and
severally liable for payment of attorneys’ fees and costs.
6. The Clerk of Court enter judgment accordingly.
Dated this 28th day of May, 2019.

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